Forgotten
by SpringBlossom4112
Summary: After Sasuke deciding not to leave the village Orochimaru comes after him and kills somebody extremely precious to him...or so he thought. SasuSaku Team 7 love
1. Twist of Fate

**A/N: **Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :**..**(

_Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head_

**Forgotten**

**Ch. 1 Twist of Fate**

He ran as fast as he could, he ran so fast his lungs burned and his legs cried. Sasuke took a deep gasp as he ran towards the smoke in the middle of the valley. Orochimaru attacked the village again and was about to take something dear to him. He left his friends to stop him, he couldn't handle another loss. Sasuke decided not to leave with Orochimaru so Orochimaru came to take him instead; he decided to strip everything away that was keeping him at home. Sasuke growled under the night sky as his feet pounded across the grass. He couldn't believe how reckless she was…

**_flashback _**

The ground rumbled as Sasuke sat on the roof of his home. He looked around in alarm, something was wrong. Smoke and fire quickly appeared in the village and he stood quickly. His eyes widened as large snakes slammed down on the village walls. _It can't be…_ He immediately grabbed all his weapons from his house and ran towards the chaos. It had been four months since Sasuke decided to stay in the village and he had a small hope Orochimaru would give up; he couldn't comprehend how wrong he was. It all seemed like a sick joke as he ran through the village taking in every sight of destruction.

The only reason he stayed was the words Naruto spoke to him during the fight on the hospital roof and Kakashi's words afterwards. Also the heartbroken look his other teammate gave him on the roof that day. He hadn't seen his female teammate since a week after that day. She took it very hard how close he was to leaving and had been under intense training since then. Last he heard she was training under some clan scrolls she found in her basement.

Sasuke sprinted further through the village taking down a few enemies as he went, his seal burned. _He's here…_ It took Sasuke a solid hour of fighting and searching to finally find him, and he could have never expected what he'd see. She was there…painfully fighting him with a gleam in her eyes that he'd never seen before. Her hair seemed slightly longer and she seemed to appear physically tougher than before. His coal eyes widened as a slice was received to her back but unlike the old Sakura she didn't even wince and continued fighting. "I won't let you take him!"

He saw Sakura's demeanor darken as Orochimaru gave a sick laugh, "That boy will become mine the second he loses everything he has left, including you."

Sasuke eyes widened at his words and he automatically screamed her name. Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to him and Orochimaru's grin grew. Sakura's surprised face quickly turned to worried anger, "Why did you come!? You're not safe near him!"

Both gennin's eyes widened as Orochimaru lurched for Sasuke. Sasuke grunted as he was slammed into the ground and looked up in surprise to see another teammate he hadn't seen in a few weeks, "She's right Teme you shouldn't be here!"

Sakura gave a relieved sigh to see Naruto defensively in front of Sasuke and Orochimaru missed his chance to take him. Sasuke scowled from the ground, "Like hell I'm going to let you two fight him! He's after me, I'll kill him."

Naruto frowned and stared harshly at Orochimaru, "Teme…we all know none of us are strong enough to beat him, even together."

There was a tense silence as Orochimaru's grinned and then gave a sick laugh, "Exactly, so hand him over or I'll kill everyone in Konoha."

Sakura growled and rocketed towards him and leaving a good dent in the ground as he jumped away. Naruto gave a light laugh, he hadn't seen Sakura in months either, "Looks like you picked up some new moves Sakura-chan."

Her lips curved up a bit as she glared at the enemy, "I didn't disappear for nothing."

Her words gave team seven a slight hint of bitter sweetness; they had all missed each other in their own way but hated to be reunited for such an event. Sasuke stood firm and watched Sakura's back, she was so different. The old Sakura would be too terrified to even try to battle Orochimaru; she had knocked the fear out of herself. Orochimaru licked his lips at the amusing bond of the three in front of him; he looked forward to tearing it apart. Sakura took in a slow lightly nervous breath, "Naruto, you ready?"

He gave a hard nod and pushed Sasuke farther behind as cold sweat formed on the back of his neck, "You know it!"

Sasuke then watched in surprise as his two teammates went all out at Orochimaru. Despite being apart for so long their teamwork was good even with all of Sakura's unknown new attacks. Her taijutsu increased immensely and she had learned two earth jutsu; they were basic but a great new asset to her skills. Sasuke prepared himself to jump in as well; he was tired of standing by, but was screamed at to leave.

Sasuke ignored their yells as both of them tumbled backwards breaking Naruto's arm and cracking one of Sakura's ribs. He ran forward full of anger despite his friends' protests. He was about to walk into Orochimaru's hands but skidded to halt as someone flashed before him, it was the Hokage. The three genin looked up at her furious face. "Orochimaru…you've crossed the line for the last time."

Orochimaru cracked his neck back and forth and gave a sick grin, "Hello Slug Princess"

There was a tense silence as Naruto and Sakura slowly stood and Orochimaru's mind crossed over the last time he had fought with his fellow sannin. Orochimaru took a small step back contemplating the results of a fight; he still wasn't used to his new body after all. Naruto gripped his arm and glared daggers at the snake, "You'll never have Sasuke as long as I live."

Sakura stood firm pressing her hand against her cracked rib, "You'll have to tear every shred of life from me before you touch him!"

Sasuke stood amazed and moved by his friends' words; they managed to surprise him with their strong bond every time. Tsunade took a step towards the revolting snake, "That's right…you won't touch him or any other person in this village without going through me."

Orochimaru watched as a dozen other Konoha shinobi appeared around him, he narrowed his eyes. He gave a small sigh and snapped his fingers having dozens of his own shinobi appear behind him, "I guess I'll have to come back for you Sasuke-kun," he gave a sick smirk, "you'll just be even more worth taking then."

Orochimaru quickly stepped back onto his massive snake's forehead as all his underlings began to attack. Sakura knocked a few enemy away as Orochimaru ordered the large snake to launch him out of the village. She gave a hard scowl as she jumped over a few enemies. _I won't let you do as you please! _She rocketed herself and surprisingly got a hold of Orochimaru's shirt. Her teammates eyes went wide as they were both rocketed backwards and out of the village and to the valley a couple miles back.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura-chan!"

**_end of flashback_**

Sasuke panted as he got closer to the smoke, his heart dropped as he saw a bright flash of jade light. He ran forward faster and could finally see figures far in front of him. His expression slowly fell as a necklace around Sakura's neck glowed while blood slipped down her entire body and a sword was jabbed through her abdomen. His eyes widened as she coughed blood and her hand glew same color of her necklace and she cut Orochimaru's arm off holding the sword. The snake gave a sound of pain as blood spattered from his bare shoulder and Sakura fell to her knees. Sasuke felt like gravity was crushing him as he tried to run faster.

Orochimaru growled in anger and used his left over arm to harshly pull the sword out of Sakura letting her fall to the ground. His eyes gleamed in rage as cold sweat dripped down his face and his sight began fuzz, "You bitch!"

Sakura breathed heavily unable to find the strength to lift herself from the ground as the glow of her necklace slowly started to fade. She hazily looked up as Orochimaru lifted the sword with his remaining hand and began to swing it down. He was stopped as a ball of fire pushed him away. Sakura glanced at Sasuke panting and full of rage. Sasuke prepared to attack Orochimaru but Kabuto quickly appeared, "My Lord!"

Kabuto and Sasuke glared hard at each other but both had someone to tend to and the enemy disappeared in a flame. With their disappearance Sasuke quickly leaned down to Sakura's bloody form. He pulled her into his arms with fear crushing his heart; he looked into her weary jade eyes, "Sakura…it'll be okay, the Hokage will be here soon."

Sakura's lips curved up a bit as she could feel her life being drawn out of her body. She stared at Sasuke's face with an expression she'd never seen before, "Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke shook his head at her breathy whisper, he couldn't believe this was happening, "Don't talk, save your energy."

He could see the grass surrounding them starting to turn red; his instincts said she wouldn't make it but he refused to accept the thought. Sakura looked up at the stars above them as her breathing became shallow, "Promise…you'll stay…"

Sasuke glanced at her in fear and unsure of what to do, "What are you talking about…j-just stop talking!"

Sakura gave a light smile as tears formed in the corner of her eyes, "Promise…you'll never leave…even when I'm gone."

Sasuke's heart stopped for a second, "Shut up! You won't be gone! Nothing is going to happen to you!"

Sakura looked into his eyes furrowing her eyebrows at his desperate face, "You have…to promise…"

Sasuke's expression started to twist in sorrow; her eyes were beginning to dull. He pressed his forehead on her chest and cursed to himself, "I promise…just promise me you'll be there too."

He looked back up at Sakura's silence and widened his eyes as tears finally began slipping from her eyes. She forced a smile on her face but her eyes gave away her tortured heart; she didn't want to die. Sasuke could hear some faint yelling in the distance.

"I love you."

Sasuke froze and looked into Sakura's paling face, "What…?"

Sakura could only see his blurry form now, "I love you…more than anything."

Sasuke's heart clenched and his ears rung. _She loves me… _Sakura breathed lightly through the silence; she didn't expect him to respond. She knew he didn't love her back…she was important to him, just not the way she wanted to be. Sasuke clenched his hand around her back that was supporting her up, "I…"

"Sakura-chan!"

Naruto stopped dead once he got in sight of her and his expression twisted in horror as Tsunade and two of her guards came from behind him. Naruto fell to his knees as tears began spilling down his face. Sakura glanced at the orange blur and gave a light smile. Tsunade immediately kneeled on the bloody grass and began flowing healing chakra into her and clenched her jaw. _It's too late… _The Hokage looked deep into the fading jade eyes seeing her true desire to live; yet she was unable to save her.

The only sound was Naruto's sobbing and continuous chanting of her name. Sakura listened to the sorrowful sounds as her own tears flooded down her face, she couldn't see anymore. The small crowd around her froze stiff as the oval shaped jade necklace around her neck glew. Her hair floated lightly as the necklace gave off a light pressure. Sakura couldn't feel her body anymore; the necklace was a clan belonging she was beginning to learn to use during her intense training but she wasn't sure what it was doing now.

Kakashi soon reached them after hearing about Sakura trying to fight Orochimaru. His shown eye narrowed in fear as he saw Naruto crying from the small crowd and a light jade glow from the center. When he reached them his heart dropped in panic as his female student was drenched in her own blood and turning transparent. Sasuke shook as he could barely feel the fading pinkette's weight in his arms anymore, "No…"

Sakura's eyes were open just a sliver as she heard Sasuke's light whisper, she understood now, "Don't cry…we'll meet again…I promise."

Tears formed in the corner of Sasuke's eyes but his bangs hid them from being seen. His heart shattered as she closed her eyes and gave a peaceful look before her transparent body burst into flickers of jade light that slowly dissolved in the sky. He stood frozen not feeling her weight in his arms anymore but seeing her blood all over his arms. There was a slight pause before Naruto screamed. "SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sasuke's arms fell limp to his sides and his eyes fell dull; he laid his forehead on the ground covered in her blood as a hidden tear slipped down his face. _She's gone…She really left… _His chest felt like there was a hole in it as he clenched his jaw reliving the same feeling when his clan was murdered. He slowly gripped his hands into the bloody ground as Tsunade held sobbing Naruto and Kakashi kneeled pounding his fists into the ground. His body trembled taking in a slow breath and he finally let out a tortured scream.

**_._._._._._._._._**

Sasuke awoke in his bed three and a half years later at the sound of his alarm. He turned it off and ran a hand through his hair. _That dream again…_ Sasuke sighed and looked dully across the room, his team seven picture had fallen over. He stood, picking it up and held it for a second. He ran a thumb over Sakura's face as an undistinguishable emotion flickered through his eyes before he put it properly back on his dresser. He gave a small sigh and got dressed. He now wore a navy jacket with his usual collar and Uchiha symbol on the back, a black t-shirt underneath, grey knee length pants, bandaging wrapped down his legs to his navy shoes, and a navy headband.

He left his empty home after breakfast; he was supposed to train with Naruto today. He walked down the streets ignoring the stares of women he'd gotten since he was a child; they didn't mean anything. It's been three and half years since that night. He was sixteen now and nobody had heard from Orochimaru since but Sasuke knew too well that wasn't the last of him. He trained vigorously everyday so he could have strength nobody could reach. He didn't let the hate and rage consume him but his life goal was still to kill Itachi but to also destroy Orochimaru as well. He wouldn't forgive anyone that took something important from him.

Despite Naruto's disapproval of revenge he aimed to kill Orochimaru as well; not just for Sakura's death, but for the protection of the village. Naruto had come back with training from Jiraya about seven months ago while Sasuke trained with and surpassed Kakashi. They were both stronger than anybody expected but it wasn't enough for them. Deep down in the depths of their hearts they blamed their weakness for Sakura's death and wouldn't stop till there was no more strength to achieve.

"Hey Teme!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto's confident grin with his emotionless expression as usual. They stood before each other with Sasuke's hands in his pockets just like they did twice a week when they weren't on missions. Sasuke looked at the blonde, "Taijutsu or Ninjutsu?"

They both knew Naruto's genjutsu would never be his strong suit, especially against Sharingan. Naruto crossed his arms behind his head, "Both!"

Sasuke gave a small sigh, "We'll tear the whole training ground apart if we do that Dobe."

Naruto frowned, "Shut up Teme! Fine, we'll do taijutsu."

Sasuke sighed and nodded as they backed away from each other and got into their fighting stances. They went about heir training as they did every other day taking a while to manage a blow on each other and slowly tearing up the landscape around them. They were both chunnin and Sasuke planned to take the jounin exam soon; both of their skill sets were something many shinobi admired. Both males had spent the majority of their life training and going on missions; Sasuke had completely stopped his socializing besides his training sessions with Naruto and Kakashi.

Sasuke flipped back avoiding Naruto's punch crashing into the ground. He searched for the blonde through the cloud of dust with his Sharingan. He quickly lifted his arm blocking a forceful kick, grabbed Naruto's ankle, and swung him into a tree. Naruto crashed through the tree and quickly stood ignoring the small wounds they both had. They lunged for each other again but stopped at the sound of clapping. They both turned to see Kakashi who had recently come back from a long-term mission. "Alright you two, I think you've damaged the training ground enough."

Naruto looked around at all the broken trees and a few cracks in the ground before give a small laugh, "Hey Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi gave a light smile; he tried convincing the boys to stop calling him sensei since they were on a level too high to be called students anymore but they refused. "The Hokage wants to see us."

Naruto blinked a few times in surprise, "Really?"

Team 7 hadn't been on a mission together in quite a while. Naruto quickly rung his arm around Sasuke's neck giving a happy smirk, "Hear that Teme! We have a mission together!"

Sasuke frowned pushing him off, "I told you to stop doing that."

Team 7 missions weren't quite as meaningful to Sasuke anymore; after all, they were missing a member. Kakashi looked at Sasuke's emotionless face knowing what he was thinking, "She wouldn't be happy with you thinking like that."

Sasuke immediately looked at him with a harsh glare, "Shut up!"

Naruto's face dulled, "I can't believe how long it's been…"

Sasuke's harsh glare turned to him and loosened at his expression, "Let's go…"

Kakashi and Naruto watched Sasuke walk away and slowly followed with a dim look; none of them were quite the same. After a tense run they reached the Hokage's office to find a familiar face in the room. Naruto gave a small smile, "Hey Sai"

Sai gave a nod in return, he had been Sakura's placeholder on some of their missions. Tsunade sat in her chair watching Team 7 file in a line in front of her desk; she slid the mission file towards Kakashi. He read it as she began to speak. "There's an escort mission on Taro Island in the sea country to the capital of the country of the next island over. You'll be gone about two weeks."

Sasuke gave a distasteful frown, "An escort mission like that would only need one of us; it's a waste of time to send us all."

Tsunade gave a small glare at him, "Actually you're escorting the candidate for an arranged marriage that will either save or kill everyone on the island."

Sasuke glared remained, "And what the marriage is a fluke?"

There was a tense silence. "Then I want you to kill the dictator in that capital and all his followers."

Sasuke analyzed her seriousness; basically it was an escort mission to stop a war. Kakashi flipped through some papers in the file, "There's no picture of who we're escorting."

Tsunade gave a small sigh and leaned back in her chair, "They didn't send much information, they said it was classified."

Naruto crossed his arms lightly excited for the mission, "When do we leave?"

Tsunade sighed, "In six hours, go rest and pack and I'll see you at the gate." They all nodded and left.

**_six hours later_**

Sasuke met his teammates at the gate under the night sky lightly surprised that Kakashi was on time. Tsunade had Shizune beside her and her arms crossed watching him stand by his team, "There's no option of failure, understand?"

They all nodded and Tsunade gave a small sigh, "Not that I should have to worry about one of my best teams failing but good luck."

They nodded once again in were gone in the blink of an eye. Tsunade stood there for a moment and looked up at the starry sky. _Watch over them for me…_

**_a few hours later_**

The current Team 7 moved forward silently through the forest; they should reach the ocean dock by morning. Sai glanced at his teammates, they were on good terms and Naruto made him a better person but…he could tell he could never fill void that their past teammate left. He believed that was why Sasuke never bothered speaking to him, along with his anti-social personality. He saw Sasuke training sometimes and he could tell by his demeanor that he was desperately trying to reach an invincible strength. To Sai, Sasuke couldn't get much stronger but he wouldn't dare say it.

**_flashback_**

Sai walked through the village at sunset back towards his home. It was his day off and he had spent most the day reading on social behaviors. He passed by the village's massive graveyard for shinobi and stopped seeing familiar figures. He glanced down seeing the rest of Team 7 standing before a grave. He watched curiously as Naruto laid a bouquet of flowers on the grave. He narrowed his eyes trying to focus more on the men below. Naruto and Kakashi had sad smiles but Sasuke held a tense, lifeless expression. He watched carefully as Naruto's lips moved; Sai's eyes widened a bit and he decided to move on. _"Happy Birthday Sakura-chan…"_

**_end of flashback_**

Naruto looked blankly out at the forest before him as he continued jumping; she was on his mind again. It was a given that Team 7 could never forget their pinkette friend but some wouldn't expect them to think of her everyday. Every time they looked at their team picture or saw something that reminded them of her; it was like she haunted them. Naruto was destroyed over the event; he loved her at the time after all. He wasn't really sure what had become of his unrequited love. When he thought about her he still held a feeling of endearment but it wasn't the same as before; she was obviously still considered a precious friend but he wasn't sure if he loved her as a sister or something more…

Naruto frowned and shook his head. He didn't know what he was thinking, it didn't matter anymore. His blue eyes dulled; he would give _anything _to get her back. Kakashi lead the team forward through the forest, it was starting to rain…He gave a glance back but only to be met with dull gazes, he frowned. _I shouldn't have mentioned her earlier…_ A dull gaze fell upon Kakashi's own face; their team never really was the same. He finally thought his team was on the right track after Sasuke decided to stay in Konoha but then Sakura disappeared. He wondered nearly everyday how different they'd be if she lived, if she stayed with them. He at first found it hard to believe she was gone since her death wasn't normal but after years passed he knew she'd never come back.

Sasuke paced himself as he continued trudging forward, the sun would rise soon. The rain didn't slow him or the team down at all and they all knew if they stopped for cover they would miss their boat. Sasuke had been in a slightly bad mood ever since Kakashi mentioned Sakura; well…a worse mood than usual. He already knew she wouldn't be happy with the way he acted but it wasn't like he could be what he wasn't. _"Don't cry…We'll meet again…I promise." _Sasuke sincerely believed she would come back since her body disappeared and there wasn't actual proof she died but lately he was starting to give up. It had been so long since that day and he found himself tired of waiting, it was painful. Sasuke looked up as the shore was finally in sight, he would do _anything _to change that day.

**_a few hours later_**

Team 7 sat bored on the ships deck as it swayed up and down on the waves; they would reach the sea country by the end of the day. Naruto laid on his side propping his arm as a pillow, it stopped raining a few minutes ago. Naruto closed eyes finding sleep to be the best way to pass the time. Sai watched Naruto drift asleep and resumed back to his sketchpad, he wasn't sure what he was drawing yet but it was a good way to let the time pass. Sasuke stared bored at the sky with one of his knees propped up; he should have brought a scroll to study. He leaned his head against a wall of the boat and closed his eyes.

**_in dream_**

Sasuke looked around the empty white space not sure of where he was. He started walking forward but still saw nothing but endless white space. He gave a small sigh of agitation. "Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke immediately turned around to see a young face that haunted his mind for years. He saw Sakura wearing her usual clothing and smiling at him the same way she did the day she left, sad. Sasuke's expression furrowed as he took a few steps toward her, "Sakura…"

"Please don't give up."

His eyes widened a little as tears slipped down the thirteen year old pinkette's face. "Please don't give up on me."

He took a few more steps as her voice quivered. "Don't give up waiting for me."

Sasuke automatically ran to her as blood started slipping away from her sudden wounds. "I promise I'll come back!"

Sasuke reached out to her bloody crying form but she burst into specs of jade light the second he touched her. He stood desperate as the jade light faded and the white mass around him faded to black. He clenched his jaw and stared at the drops of her blood and tears at his feet, "Sakura!"

**_out of dream_**

Sasuke slammed his eyes open managing not to move or make a sound. He glanced at his team around him relieved that hadn't taken notice to him. Sasuke tilted his head to the side and clenched his jaw; he just wanted it to stop. He was tired of having dreams like that or of her death every night. He was tired of waiting. It would be less painful to give up than keep waiting. Everyone waited at first but Kakashi gave up a year later and Naruto had a few months ago. Sasuke was the only one who thought she might come back but how he wished he could give up too; but as painful as those dreams were, they made the hope of seeing her again even stronger.

**_a few hours later_**

Naruto stretched as they stepped out of the boat at nighttime to be met by an older man. Kakashi stood before him and shook his hand, "You must be Takakura-san"

The old man with short grayish brown hair and goatee nodded, "Yes, thank you for coming."

Introductions were done and Takakura led them into the town. He was the leader of his small village on the island. The village they were led to was the center of island decisions; the island capital per say, but it was a simple town with no electricity and no protection. Sasuke glanced around seeing flickers of candles from inside homes as the leader continued talking.

"The leader of the nation, Katsurou-sama, requires heavy taxes that we cannot pay. Since we cannot pay taxes our island will go under raid by his soldiers unless we offer him a suitable exchange."

Naruto frowned hating the sound of the dictator. "He suggested to us we offer all of our…beautiful women."

Naruto snarled with disgust over the idea. "We were going to send pictures for his selection but someone volunteered to be taken to him."

Kakashi nodded, "Brave girl."

Takakura nodded with a grim look, "Truthfully he might have chosen her anyway, but she's one of the most cherished people in our village that we didn't want him to know of. The kind child said she would sacrifice herself to repay us for everything we'd done for her."

Sasuke watched as the leader's face twisted with sadness, he hated the decision he was making. "But Katsurou-sama heard of her and expects her to be there in a week to be wed to him and never to see us again."

Naruto frowned in sympathy for the man, "And she accepts that?"

The older man gave a hard nod, "With every fiber of her being. She's willing to throw her life away to protect us. So please…keep her safe and happy till the last moment she has of her freedom!"

The team nodded at the man's saddened whisper. Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder as they reached the door of the house they were entering, "You can count on us."

The door was opened and the grateful man led them in, "This is the home you'll spend the night in. Wait here as I go get the two you'll be traveling with."

They all nodded again as Takakura traveled farther into the house and left them waiting in a wide empty room. Naruto crossed his arms as they waited, "I think we should just go kill the guy and let her stay here."

Kakashi shook his head despite his yearn to agree, "We can't get Konoha involved unless the meeting goes badly."

Sai nodded, "Besides she already made her decision, she has prepared herself."

The team looked up at Takakura stepped out of the shadows and two female figures could be seen slowly moving forward. The middle-aged man gave a sad smile, "Forgive the wait, she's not in the best of health."

Sasuke blankly watched as he could see the taller female figure guiding and supporting the other. Once they emerged from the shadows his world stopped. Everyone but Sai stopped dead as their bodies went numb from shock. Sasuke's eyes went horridly wide and watched as the smaller female looked at them with a small, weak smile. His hands began to shake and his ears rung as her small silhouette was dressed in a simple white dress an inch above her knee. His jaw was slack as she blinked her sparkling jade eyes and her long pink hair floated behind her. He took a small step forward disoriented from shock, "Sa…kura?"

**_authors notes_**

So what do you think? It's an idea I've had going through my head for a long time now and I wanted to see if it was worth writing and continuing. I don't think it flows the way I imagined it but it'll get there. And I had to leave a cliff-hanger, I couldn't leave you thinking she was dead now could I? You probably wouldn't read it if I did. There will be a painful twist in the next chapter that you can probably figure out by the title but tell me what you think! :)


	2. Tortured Hope

**A/N: **Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :**..**(

_Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head_

**Forgotten**

**Ch. 2 Tortured Hope**

Sasuke blankly watched as he could see the taller female figure guiding and supporting the other. Once they emerged from the shadows his world stopped. Everyone but Sai stopped dead as their bodies went numb from shock. Sasuke's eyes horridly wide watched as the smaller female looked at them with a small weak smile. His hands began to shake and his ears rung as her small silhouette was dressed in a simple white dress an inch above her knee. His jaw was slack as she blinked her sparkling jade eyes and her long pink hair floated behind her. He took a small step forward disoriented from shock, "Sa…kura?"

Sasuke's whisper was unheard as the taller, brunette woman with blue eyes supported the pinkette as they walked down a few steps. Takakura raised his hand in a gesture, "This is Yuki and her friend Naomi who also serves as her protector. They will both acco-"

The older man was cut off as the blonde darted to pinkette and gripped her in a tight hug, "Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke slowly stepped forward, his gaze possessed by her face. He prepared to say something but stopped as she squirmed from Naruto's grasp. "W-what are you doing?"

Naruto looked up releasing her as she fell back into Naomi's arms with a scared look. Naruto looked desperately into her terrified jade eyes, "S-Sakura-chan…don't you remember us?"

Sasuke's heart cracked as the pinkette trembled in her friend's arms, "My name isn't Sakura!"

There was dead silence across the room. Naruto took a step back and fell to his knees, "But…"

Sasuke's throat was dry as the innocent, scared eyes looked into his miserable eyes. His eyebrows furrowed in emotional pain at the cruel trick being placed in front of him. Takakura looked around confused and gave a serious look at Naomi, "Why don't you take Yuki back to her room as I talk to the young men here."

Naomi quickly nodded supporting the pale pinkette up and slowly leading her out of their sight. Naruto would've reached out but his heart was numb from pain. Takakura looked out confused and defensively at the emotional people before him. He walked past them and opened a door to a vacant room, "We need to talk."

They miserably filed in as Sai dragged the two sixteen year olds back to their senses to make them finally move from their spots. They all sat on the ground as Takakura shut the door and looked down with stern eyes, "Would you care to explain?"

Kakashi looked at him with eyes glazed over in hurt confusion. Takakura cleared his throat at the silence. Sai looked at his disoriented teammates and decided to speak, "She looks exactly like a teammate who passed away. She would be the same age and everything."

Takakura's eyes widened as he sat down, "I'm sorry for your loss…but if she died there's no possible way Yuki is the same girl."

Sasuke's eyes darkened, "She didn't die…that is her…it has to be!"

Sasuke finally looked up with a cold, torn expression. Kakashi motioned his hand for Sasuke to back off, "Our teammate…Sakura's body disappeared three and a half years ago when she was dying."

There was a tense silence as Takakura's eyes widened a bit and his eyes hardened, "Three and a half years ago is when Yuki appeared."

All of Team 7's faces slammed up looking at him with small traces of hope in their eyes. Naruto felt his mouth run dry, "W-What do you mean?"

Takakura looked down with his dark brown eyes tracing over the memory in his mind, "Even…Even if it is her; she doesn't remember you."

Sasuke's eyes flickered with rage, "She will so tell the damn story."

Takakura looked up at the Team's expressions and gave a small sigh giving in, "Three and a half years ago, before Katsurou-sama came into rule, we were a happy simplistic village. My wife and I were taking a walk due to the rare snow that occurred that week. Snow only comes once every few years here. It was just past dawn and suddenly there was a bright flicker of light a few hundred meters east in the forest. Being the village leader I took pre-caution bringing a few friends with me. My wife demanded to come along as well. It took about a half hour to finally reach where the light had come from. It was fascinating…"

"Everyone stared eyes wide as a young girl laid unconscious in the snow. My wife became alarmed as the snow around her was red with blood but there were no wounds, only scars on the girl. My wife quickly dressed her with her coat since she only wore a necklace at the time. I was nervous but my wife had convinced me to bring her back to the village. We kept her in our daughter's room that passed away several years before. It was days before the girl had finally woken up. It was amazing how excited my wife became…it's like she was pretending she found our daughter alive again."

"When she came to she didn't speak, it was almost like she was sleep walking. My wife treated her as our daughter and was ecstatic when the girl finally began to _really _wake up. She acted just like a normal girl her age but…she remembered nothing; not even her own name. After keeping her with us for a while my wife decided to name her Yuki since we found her in the snow. It was odd at first but everyone including myself eventually adjusted to having her here. She never recalled her memory but was okay with just being Yuki. My friend's daughter Naomi was quickly chosen to be by her side at all times since she doesn't have the greatest health but became so dear to us."

"When my wife died two years ago Yuki took over caring for everyone in the village…Always playing with the children, helping villagers with daily tasks, and making everyone smile. Everyone here considers her one of us and she was overjoyed to know that. She overheard me and a few colleagues of mine talking over the dilemma of Katsurou-sama wanting our women and decided to take it into her own hands…I pleaded her not to do so but she just smiled at me and said she was glad to give up her freedom for our sake." A tear ran down Takakura's face, "She accepted the burden of our village at such a young age…It's so unfair."

There was dead silence over the room again as Takakura wiped his eyes, "Even if she's this Sakura you speak of she won't go with you. She doesn't know who you are and is determined to go through with this mission."

Sasuke clenched his fists in the fabric of his pants, "So you expect us to just give up on getting her back?"

Takakura looked at them in alarm; he quickly stood, "I know you want her back but a mission is a mission! I paid for you to escort her!"

Sasuke stood with Naruto quickly doing the same, "So you expect us to take her to some sick freak and let him do whatever he wants with her!? Like hell!"

Naruto growled under his breath as Kakashi watched them unsure of what to do, "I'll go kill that damn bastard before he touches her!"

Takakura looked at them with anger and sadness in his eyes, "Do you think I want her to go!? That I want him toying with her the rest of her life! I would rather have her return with you and lose this village before he puts his hands on her."

Everyone watched him silently for a moment as he fell to his knees. "But…even if I say that…she'll just go on her own. So please…don't abide by what I want, abide by what she wishes for. If she changes her mind the way there then abide by her changed wish. If she remembers you then take her home."

Kakashi stood along with Sai amongst the tense room. He looked at his students and back at the saddened man, "Alright…"

His two original students looked at him with horror in their eyes. "We'll abide by what Sa-…Yuki wants for now. Just let us sleep on the decision."

Takakura gave a slightly grateful nod and led them to their room. They all walked in the room tossing down their stuff as Takakura sadly thanked them before closing the door. The second he closed the door Sasuke gripped Kakashi's collar with raging Sharingan burning out of his eyes, "What the hell is wrong with you! She's your own dammed student and you're going to let her go!?"

He took a sharp angry breath, "We finally found her after all this time and you're just gonna give her away to some sick dictator!? Are you insane!?"

Sai quickly pulled Sasuke back as Naruto and Sasuke both angrily awaited an answer. Kakashi looked at them grimly, "What are we going to do? Kidnap her? Make her unhappy in a place she doesn't remember? Fail our mission? Start a war? Have her hate us and try and escape at every moment?"

The anger slightly subsided in the two chunnin. Kakashi sat against a wall with an overwhelmed sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, "The best chance we have is she'll remember us as we travel with her…or the meeting with Katsurou doesn't go well and we can protect her while killing him and his followers off."

Naruto gave a hard frown, "And what if she doesn't remember us? What if it goes well?!" There was another tense silence as Kakashi gave a regretful look at the three before him, "Then we did all we could."

Naruto grinded his teeth and slammed the side of his fist against the wall, "I can't believe this…"

Sasuke glared at the floor as memories of her flooded his mind and taunted him with the miserable trick life was playing on his team. He growled under his breath and sat against the wall after kicking off his shoes, "Go to sleep, we have a lot of traveling to do."

**_in the home_**

The confused pinkette frowned as she sat on the floor while Naomi ran a brush through her hair. She didn't understand, she had no recollection of the people she met but their reactions said otherwise. She shifted uncomfortably, she felt nervous traveling with them now. Naomi gave a small caring smile noticing her friend's concerned state, "Don't worry, everything will work out."

Yuki glanced back with unsure jade eyes, "How do you know?"

Naomi gave a motherly smile, "Because you're a good person doing a brave thing; fate wouldn't stop you."

Yuki gave a small nod trying to believe her friend as she crawled onto her bed. She watched as Naomi stood to blow out the candle. "Naomi-oneesama, Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"

Naomi smiled at the honorific, she was only two years older, "I'm going to be with you till the very last moment, understand?"

Yuki gave a calm smile before Naomi blew out the candle. The pinkette wouldn't say it but that's what she wanted. Honestly she was a little afraid but she refused to let that stop her. She smiled as she heard Naomi get into her near by bed, "Thank you…"

**_morning_**

Sasuke sat unhappily in a kitchen chair with his belongings at he sat waiting for the rest of his team to pack up. He was too irritated and overwhelmed to sleep. He stiffened feeling a presence closing in. He clenched his jaw as the door a few feet in front of him slid open. He clenched his hand against the table as he looked up. The young seventeen year old woman looked at him with a nervous smile; "Good Morning"

Sasuke shoved a few thoughts to the back of his head, "Morning…"

She stood there nervously swaying for a moment, "I-I'm sure you're hungry, I can make something to eat!"

Sasuke was going to tell her not to bother but the pinkette was already shuffling through the kitchen beginning to mix ingredients in a bowl. Sasuke frowned a bit as she easily mixed some batter together; Sakura never liked cooking. He grumbled to himself unable for her to hear, he wasn't sure what to do. He glanced as she mumbled unhappily while fiddling with the old stove. He watched her for a moment and stood up. The nervous girl looked back at him, "You don't need to get up, I'll get it in a minute."

Sasuke ignored her protests and stood before the stove. The pinkette watched confused as he did a few hand signs and placed his fingers against his mouth. Sasuke lightly blew flames onto the stove burner letting it finally light up. Yuki blinked a few times in surprise, "Wow…thank you…"

Sasuke nodded and sat back in his seat at the awkward silence. Sasuke watched as she placed a pan on the stove and began chopping things up. "What do you like in an omelet?"

Sasuke sat silently for a minute watching her chop, "Tomatoes…"

The teenage girl looked back a little surprised but his avoided gaze said to not question it, "Okay, tomatoes then…"

The pinkette stared at the extra egg batter in the bowel, "Do you know what um…you're friends like?"

Sasuke's heart cracked slightly that she wasn't aware of their names, "Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi-sensei…and no."

Yuki nodded, "Right…"

Sasuke parted his lips during the tense silence to try and recall her memories but stopped at the door was slammed open. Naruto walked in yawning, dragging his stuff across the floor, "Teme, do we really have to leave this early?"

Naruto stopped at Sasuke's glare and turned to the presence he didn't bother to notice before. Naruto stood stiff and clenched his jaw as 'Yuki' nervously glanced at him from in front of the stove. The pinkette's body tightened slightly over the event that occurred the night before, "Good Morning…"

Naruto slowly inhaled clenching his hand against the chair he prepared to sit himself in, "Good Morning!"

Sasuke glanced at Naruto slightly impressed by his happy façade. The teenage girl loosened up and smiled at his happy personality, "I'm making omelets, do you want one?"

Naruto gave a perfect fake smile, "Heck yeah! I'm starving!"

Naruto watched as she turned around with a smile and his expression fell dull. His eyes darkened as he watched her go about her life that didn't involve them, it was heartbreaking. The pinkette smiled to herself as she shook the contents on the pan. _Maybe I was wrong to be nervous…They seem nice. _She took a peek in the corner of her eye and frowned seeing Naruto's dull face and Sasuke's cold expression. She glanced back down at her food feeling disheartened. Her expression fell sad as she thought over when they met last night. She wasn't sure why but they seemed so shocked and desperate.

She began pulling plates out of the cupboard as Sai and Kakashi walked in. They both glanced at her while Kakashi tried to keep a straight face. The teen girl didn't look back hoping not to see more sad faces, "Good Morning"

Sai nodded and sat down as Kakashi's expression tightened but he fought to keep his voice normal, "Morning…"

Kakashi took a strenuous breath and sat down at the small, crowded table. Kakashi glanced around at the tense silence, "Uh…Yuki, where's you're friend?"

The pinkette didn't notice his trouble pronouncing her name. The young woman smiled, "She's packing our things."

Kakashi nodded as she turned around with a smile and some plates in her hands. She placed them in front of them and then walked back to the stove for the food. The unfamiliar men watched her as she casually placed the omelets on their plates with a smile. She prepared to sit down but suddenly stop, "Oh, you must want a drink!"

Naruto tried to tell her it didn't matter but she jogged back over to the cupboard gathering glasses as fast as she could. She filled them with water and quickly walked back to the table.

Sasuke's eyes widened as her face suddenly turned pale and she stumbled letting the glasses shatter on the floor. Everyone around the table eyes widened and stood as her legs gave out. Everyone reached for her but Sasuke was the one to catch her to prevent her from hurting herself on the broken glass. They were all nervously stunned as she didn't move in his arms. Sasuke lightly shook her in alarm fighting the urge to call her Sakura as he leaned her against him and away from the glass, "Hey!"

Her weary jade eyes lightly fluttered as Naomi slammed open the door from the sound of shattered glass. Naomi quickly ran over lightly pushing Naruto out of the way ignoring the glass under her sandals, "Yuki!?"

The pinkette hazily glanced over breathing lightly. Naomi immediately pulled a pill out of her jacket pocket and pressed it against Yuki's lips, "Eat, you forgot to take your medicine."

Sasuke watched with slight nervousness as the girl in his arms swallowed the pill. _Medicine? _The color slowly began return to her face and her eyes began to brighten a bit. Sasuke helped her sit up and she rubbed her forehead. Naomi gave a firm glance, "You were being too active again weren't you?"

Naruto watched as she gave a weak smile, "Sorry, I was moving around too quickly."

Naomi sighed as her and Sasuke helped the pinkette stand up, "Just try not to over do it during the trip; you need to stay healthy as possible."

The men watched as she nodded calmly and sat down since Naomi refused to let her clean the mess. Naruto stared blankly at the girl with jade eyes. _That was too active for her…Is she really that sick? _Sai analyzed the girl. _It doesn't make sense for her to be so inactive if she spent the majority of her life training and being a shinobi. _

Sasuke watched as the still lightly dizzy pinkette sat in her chair; he was so confused. He didn't understand why she was so unhealthy. He moved his furious eyes downward as he sat back in his chair; that disgusting dictator would destroy her in minutes. After Naruto helped Naomi finish cleaning the mess on the floor they all silently began eating. The atmosphere was too tense for anyone to dare speak. Naruto chewed on his food; it was delicious. He snuck a glance at the pinkette; it only made sense for her to cook a lot after living in a remote town for three and a half years. He gave a small sigh to himself; she really wasn't the Sakura he used to know.

After they finished eating Naomi did the dishes as the pinkette went to finish packing. The shinobi waited dully in the kitchen waiting for Naomi to finish the dishes. Naruto chewed on his lips watching the brunette go about her day, "Hey Naomi, What…what is she like?"

The blue-eyed girl turned slightly, "You mean Yuki?"

Naruto clenched his fists a little at the name and nodded. Naomi gave a calm smile, "She's very unselfish, always trying to do the right thing, and can make anybody smile. Her health has slowly declined since we found her but she does what she can and sometimes pushes her limits as a result."

She went back to scrubbing dishes. Team 7 absorbed the information, trying to imagine what their long lost friend had turned into. After a few moments packing was finished and everyone awkwardly made their way to the village's border where Takakura and almost all the civilians were waiting. Team 7 watched as many sad goodbyes were given to 'Yuki' and regards for Naomi to keep her safe. The jade-eyed girl took a hesitant step forward as she stood before Takakura. That goodbye was the hardest; he and his deceased wife took care of her the past three and half years, he was basically her father. The pinkette put forth a brave smile as she could see grief passing through her caretaker's eyes, "Thank you for taking care of me the past few years."

The middle-aged man gave a bittersweet smile, "Thank you for coming into our lives."

The pinkette clenched the travel bag she was holding; she was about to leave everything behind. Her fatherly figure's chest tightened and he quickly pulled her into a tight hug and after a moment of surprise she hugged back. He clenched his jaw as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes, "You _are_ my daughter, don't forget that."

Yuki's eyes widened, he never called her that before. She felt her throat tighten and gripped her hand on the back of his shirt, "I'll miss you…Father."

After the painful parting the crowd of villagers yelled their goodbyes again and Team 7, Naomi, and 'Yuki' went their way. The journey had begun.

**_author's notes_**

So I hope the Yuki/Sakura thing wasn't too confusing. I hope you liked the chapter and are enjoying the story idea. This fanfic won't be as long as the others but should hopefully have a really good story line, I already have the ending in my head :) Please Please Please review! I wanna know what you think.

As form my other fanfics I'm in progress of finishing **What If**, writings been a little hard since my grandpa passed away two weeks ago, this one was already written. I'm in progress of the next chapter of **A New Life** as well. I get out of college for the summer next week so within a couple weeks I should have one or both of the new chapters up. Again, please review!


	3. Trouble at Sea

**A/N: **Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :**..**(

_Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head_

**Forgotten**

**Ch. 3 Trouble at Sea**

The pinkette glanced around as Naomi, Team 7, and her filed her onto the boat. The boat they were riding now was bigger than the previous from last night. The pinkette looked down at the wooden deck as the boat swayed from the new passengers. She held her breath; she had never been on a boat before. Naomi gave a calm smile and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You'll get used to it."

The pinkette nodded and looked up at her new traveling companions. The one with dark hair but not pale skin, Sasuke if she remembered right, intimidated her. She was honestly nervous to be around any of them; they seemed like very sad and serious people to her. Even now, they had tense expressions on their faces and she was afraid to talk to them. She rubbed her hands together as they shut the boat door and began floating away from the dock; she took a small step and glanced at the island that was no longer her home, she frowned.

Sasuke tilted his eyes towards the pinkette who was now looking as the disappearing island with a lonely expression. He shifted his gaze away and back at the ocean; he felt so aggravated. Sasuke was so mad at the world right now for creating this twisted situation. He was so angry at everything that he couldn't approach his lost teammate and make any progress to returning her memories. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he fought the urge to break something.

Kakashi looked around at the tense atmosphere and cleared his throat; his signaled his team over as everyone glanced at him. He laid a map down on the deck and everyone sat down as they began formulating a travel plan. The pinkette watched them in the corner of her eye; she wasn't sure what to do. Naomi gave a calming smile and nudged her shoulder, "Ninja are suppose to look scary; I'm sure they're great people underneath."

'Yuki' looked at her with an unsure expression, "How do you know that?"

Naomi's dark blue eyes softened as her long, brown hair blew in the wind, "Just a woman's intuition. Besides, they preform missions to help people. How bad could they be?"

With those words an explosive tag kunai suddenly landed on the boat and the girls screamed as the sudden explosion obliterated the boat. The pinkette panicked as she was thrown into heavy water and there was no air to breathe; she didn't know how to swim. She swung her arms back and forth as the salty ocean water burned her eyes and she began sinking further while the remains of the boat swung through the water. She reached out for a piece of wood to pull her up but was hit by water pressure from behind.

The pinkette tried to gasp as the breath was knocked out of her but choked on the cold water. The burn of her lungs weighed down on her and she sunk further and she felt the urge to close her eyes. She saw a dark figure swimming towards her but winced as her body suffered from the lack of air. Her eyes finally fluttered shut as the dark figure closed in on her.

'Yuki's' heavy mind wandered through blackness as she felt her body shift back and forth. She groaned as the burning pressure in her chest and head surfaced. She tried to open her eyes as she heard sounds of screams and attacks as she was brought back to consciousness. When the pinkette finally opened her eyes she realized she was being carried on Sasuke's back as he ran on the water supporting her with one arm and throwing kunai with the other. She immediately gasped and clung onto him as she saw shuriken whip past them.

Sasuke glanced at her in the corner of his eye, glad she was awake, and blocked a kick with his free arm, "Don't let go!"

The pinkette cowardly nodded gripped onto him for dear life. She gave a terrified look around as tagged kunai created explosions on the water and attacks made of the five elements were flying through the air. Her eyes widened in terror at the scene of battle and she saw Naomi clinging to one of many blondes' back. She blinked in confusion as the multiple Naruto's swung attacks, wiping out the enemy and a few of him turned into a puff a smoke.

She came out of her distraction and screamed as kunai whipped past her and sliced Sasuke's arm. Her eyes widened in horror as Sasuke winced but quickly pulled his sword out and stabbed the enemy in the chest right in front of her. Her jaw fell and she began to shake in panic. Sasuke cursed as he noticed her state of fear and he spun to dodge another attack, "Close your eyes!"

The pinkette eagerly did so and hid her face in his shoulder. It seemed like years before the noise of chaos began to die down and she heard someone command to head towards land. After a few minutes of the only sound being the footsteps against water she slowly lifted her face and opened her eyes. Her heartbeat began to settle as she saw no enemy and just her new companions running against the water as Naomi held onto Naruto's back. The pinkette gave a small sigh of relief once she realized Naomi wasn't harmed.

Her mood began to settle as they continued running across the ocean for almost an hour before they finally saw sight of a small island they could rest on. The pinkette shivered as they all walked to shore and she was finally set down. She turned her gaze as Naruto put Naomi down and let himself fall the ground and groaned. "Where the heck were those guys from!?"

The pinkette blinked still in numb shock as the grey haired man sighed, "I couldn't see any headbands…but they had some serious manpower with them."

Sasuke glanced across the small island once he caught his breath; "It looks like firm ground over there."

Team 7 glanced over and nodded and they began walking that way; Naomi and Yuki numbly followed. Team 7 quickly sat down on a fallen tree and flat boulders; the pinkette watched them in bewilderment as they continued talking about the attack like it was an everyday thing. She took a step in front of Sasuke and looked down at him with terrified and hurt eyes, "What was that!?"

Everyone turned to look at her as nervousness radiated off her face. "You guys are just going about yourselves like that was no big deal! We could've died! Doesn't that many anything!?"

There was a tense pause as they heard her heavy breathing and saw tears in the corners of her eyes. Sasuke frowned as he looked up at her, "That's how we live. We risk our lives for the sake of others and our village everyday. That's the life we chose." He clenched his jaw. _It's the life you chose too!"_

The pinkette felt her chest tighten, "That's ridic-…you're bleeding."

Sasuke glanced down as the slash under his shoulder that was bleeding all the way down his arm; he was too busy focusing on possibility of incoming enemy he didn't notice. The pinkette frowned and felt her heart pound as blood began to drip from Sasuke's arm. She immediately leaned down beside him and pulled her hair out of her face, "Does anybody have any bandages?"

Sakura caught some bandages Sai tossed to her and grabbed some ointment from Naomi's bag. Sasuke looked down at the pinkette as she looked seriously at his wound. Naruto gave a small smile as she put pressure above his arm to stop the bleeding and began to rub the cut in ointment, "Hey Naomi-san you want to help me find some firewood so we can dry our stuff?"

Naomi gave a nod and followed, eager to help. Kakashi gave a soft smile as she watched the pinkette care for Sasuke like nothing had ever changed; he gave a quick nod at Sai and murmured, "Let's go find some food."

Sasuke carefully watched the pinkette tend to his wound as he was left alone with her; her expression was almost the same as when she was a genin. His eyes softened a little as she carefully wrapped the bandages, doing her best not to hurt him, "Sorry you had to go through that."

The pinkette blinked as she paused for a moment and nodded before returning to his wound. Her eyes softened and she paused again, "I'm sorry I yelled at you…I…It just really freaked me out…I've never seen a fight before."

Sasuke gave an understanding nod as he tried to put all their old memories in the back of his mind. He shifted his gaze as she finished wrapping his arm and tied the bandages, "You do this a lot?"

Yuki shook her head but gave a bittersweet smile, "I spent a lot of time with the kids back home. Every once in a while there'd be a scrapped knee or arm, The only time I did anything serious is when Naomi-neechan's father came back from the capital…"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as she trailed off, "What happened?"

The pinkette hesitated a moment and directed her jade eyes at the ground, "He went about a year ago to discuss the new tax policy and spoke his views too strongly against Katsurou-sama. He was escorted home and beaten on the boat by a soldier during the ride home. There was someone close enough to the dock to notice when he was thrown onto shore and he was quickly brought to us for help."

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed, "And you still plan to go there and live under his power for the rest of your life?"

The pinkette avoided his gaze, "No matter what you say everyone in this country already lives under his power. Besides, if I spend so much close time with him then maybe I can help my people from the inside."

Sasuke gripped his hands against the broken tree he was sitting on, "How will you help them if your health gives out before you have the chance to make a difference?"

Yuki frowned at his cold voice and stood, "Your mission is to escort me, not worry about my health. I'll be fine."

Sasuke stood with an angry expression, ready to argue, but was stopped as Naruto and Naomi stepped into the clearing. Naruto looked up feeling the tense atmosphere and put forth his best smile, "We got plenty of firewood!"

The pinkette turned away from Sasuke and began helping set a fire; she didn't understand why everything he said to her seemed to affect her so much. She hid her frown as Sasuke set the fire while Kakashi and Sai hung food above it to roast. There was just something about her new traveling companions that made her feel a little on edge; she didn't know if it was the looks of sorrow they gave around her or something else buried deep in the back of her mind.

After almost an hour the pinkette nervously stood near shore as the shinobi covered up their tracks; they didn't know if enemy was searching for them or not. She glanced back at her traveling companions as they made their way to her and Naomi; she knew it was time to travel again. Kakashi looked at the people he was with, "We'll have to travel till we hit shore, there's soldier pills with chakra boosters from Ino if we need them and we can switch carrying the girls if it gets too tiring."

The team nodded as Yuki wondered who Ino was; her eyes widened a little as the palest one looked directly at her. Sai analyzed the pinkette's expression, "I'll carry Yuki-san."

The three others from Konoha widened their eyes a little wondering why Sai would do such a thing. Their goal was to see if Yuki would return to being Sakura and if she was really her but Sai never met Sakura. Sasuke narrowed his expression as Sai looked into his eyes; they stared at each other for a moment and Sasuke couldn't tell what it was but he could see there was a purpose for his actions. Sasuke shoved his aggravation down his throat knowing that his need to push the pinkette into remembering wasn't going to help. Naruto watched the exchange of glances between Sai and Sasuke and knew Sai would never do anything to hurt Team 7, "I'll take Naomi then."

The two young women nodded and walked their way over to get on their companions backs. The pinkette nervously wrapped her arms around Sai's neck as she rested on his back and he lifted her up. She felt her stomach turn a little as Sai began walking on the water; she still couldn't figure out how they did that. She finally began to look around at the endless view of the ocean as they ran; judging by the sun it was around 1:00pm. "You're a very brave person Yuki-san."

The pinkette looked over to the side of Sai's calm face and felt small discomfort, "You're not going to get mad about what I'm doing too are you?"

Sai gave a small shake of his head, "No, it's not my business to get involved in your decisions. I just think your brave."

The pinkette felt a little more relaxed at his words, "Oh…well thank you…you don't seem as tense as the others."

Sai had no change in expression as he continued running forward on the water, "That's because you remind them greatly of an old friend."

Yuki thought back to their actions the day they met and how sad the two her age looked during breakfast this morning, it made sense, "But what about you?"

The pinkette eagerly waited for Sai's answer. "I never got to meet her. I sort of became part of this team by being her place holder."

Her expression relaxed as she felt the relief that she wasn't going to be compared to the girl they knew or pressured her to be, "Do they ever talk about her or why I remind them of her?"

Sai thought about it for a small moment, "Sometimes, it's easier for Naruto and Kakashi to talk about her. Sasuke is a very reserved person; I believe that she is his weakness so he feels that if he talks of her then he'll become vulnerable. She was very kind, intelligent…had a bit of a temper, but she meant everything to them. That's why seeing you has taken them for a serious turn. You look exactly like her and apparently you appeared in your village the same time she disappeared."

The pinkette stayed silent for a minute as she absorbed all the information; she felt so much sadness for their loss and tried to think of how much of an impact it must have been to lose her. Thinking of their loss she then began to feel guilty for how much they wanted her to be their lost teammate. In the back of her head the possibility of her being the same girl was making sense but she automatically pushed away her thoughts because she didn't want to stray from her resolve. Her jade eyes slowly turned as she glanced at each face in Team 7, "What was her name?"

Sai felt a slight bit of hope for his comrades as he could tell the pinkette's mind was turning over the relation between her and their lost teammate, "Sakura, Sakura Haruno"

The pinkette let the name drift around her mind for a bit, "Our hair…she was named Sakura because of her pink hair."

Sai gave a small nod to her, "Naruto says that's why she loved the Hanabi festival so much. Celebrating the cherry blossom trees made her feel like they were celebrating her."

She glanced her jade eyes over at Naruto, "I bet they were all really close…"

Sai felt hidden content about making Sakura be traveling through Yuki's brain; he was hoping learning about her would help her remember, if they were the same person, "Is there anything else you'd like to know about her?"

The pinkette blinked wondering why he was offering up so much information about somebody neither of them knew. She looked around at the Team 7 members and settled her eyes on Sasuke, "What…What was she to Sasuke?"

Sai paused, wondering if he should tell such things, "She was in love with him…she disappeared telling him that. Sasuke shuts everybody out but he let her in every once in a while, but I don't think he ever got to figure out if she meant more than a friend."

Yuki's expression saddened hearing about Sasuke being left with so many unresolved feelings. She cowered her gaze away from Sasuke; she was beginning to feel very guilty. She felt like just being there and making them see her was torture for them. Having them protect her was torturing their feelings. Yuki always loved her unique coloring because the people of her village consistently complimented her on it but now she hated how she looked. Her appearance was hurting people who didn't deserve such pain…she wanted to glue a mask to her face.

Kakashi took a small glance toward Sai and their client; he noticed she looked guilty. He gave a small sigh under his breath he knew Sai wouldn't purposefully make her feel bad, Sai wouldn't feel confident enough in his understanding of emotion to do so. Sai also didn't hold Sakura as a personal memory so Sakura wouldn't feel bad for Sai. Kakashi's eyes darkened a little as the young woman held a look on her face that Sakura often tried to hide; it was heart wrenching to see Sakura in her. Kakashi deep down believed they were the same but he was trying his best to stay neutral about the mission and not get his hopes up. His students were like his children and he couldn't stand the fact of having his daughter dangled in his face and having her taken away again; he would try his best to make her remember but he would also try his best to consider her a different person.

Sasuke scowled as he ran in front across the ocean; he overheard Sai's and pinkette's whole conversation. Sasuke knew that Sai was trying to help but he couldn't stand hearing Sai talk about his relationship with Sakura. Sasuke hated people talking about him like they knew him; like they knew what went on in his head. Sasuke knew he shut everybody out, he didn't care. Letting people in too deep only lead to hurt. Letting people in only brought up things he didn't want to think about; Sakura just had a special way of getting to him.

**_flashback_**

Sasuke glared as he sent a wave of Chidori towards a line of trees obliterating the nature in his path; he couldn't stop training. It was a weak since the attack on Konoha during the chunnin exams. Sasuke was in the hospital for a couple days and had been training non stop ever since. He couldn't believe how strong Naruto was getting and that he was starting to fall behind. He couldn't stand that he couldn't protect his teammates and was lying there so helpless. He couldn't stand he was so helpless that Sakura almost got killed trying to protect him, "What do you want?"

Sasuke turned and glanced up the hill at Sakura's small smile. Sakura gripped her hands behind her back and got the courage to pull out a bento box, "I thought you could use some dinner."

Sasuke frowned and prepared to turn her down but couldn't help but let the image of the last time he saw her laying in a hospital bed eat at him, "Fine"

Sakura's eyes brightened and she hurried down the hill and handed it to him, "I made sure there was nothing sweet."

Sasuke carelessly took it from her and sat down not bothering to say anything as she sat down a couple feet from him. Sakura looked around at the training ground as Sasuke opened the bento, "You damaged the place pretty good."

Sasuke glanced over the food he could tell she spent hours trying to perfect, "Not good enough."

Sakura kept her smile on her face, "I could spar with you…so you'd get stronger faster."

Sasuke swallowed a bite of food trying to ignore how good it was, "There's no point. I'd just hurt you."

Sakura's heart sunk a little and she gave a small laugh trying to hide her hurt over the comment, "Yeah I guess you're right…I'm pretty useless in battle."

Sasuke paused a moment catching the hurt in her eyes and getting mad at himself for always being such a jerk, "How are your wounds?"

Sakura eyes widened over his concern and forced a smile on her face as she instinctively put a hand on her ribs, "Oh, I'm fine. Just some bruising."

Sasuke frowned knowing she was lying. He overheard a nurse saying there were minor cracks across her ribs and intense bruising all over her body from being nearly crushed to death, "You shouldn't have protected me."

Sakura's expression fell a little and she furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't regret my decision Sasuke-kun. I wasn't going to let him hurt you."

Sasuke glared at her, "He could've killed you! You damn well knew you couldn't take him, there's no point in risking your life if you can't defend yourself!"

Sakura's expression harshened at his raised voice, "I don't care! You and Naruto go out of your way all the time to protect me! I want to protect the people I care about too Sasuke-kun! You don't get a special standard! I don't care if I die as long as I protect you!"

Sasuke fumed and grabbed her shoulders, "Don't you dare say that! You're not going to die on me! Don't you dare talk about dying on me!"

Sasuke let go as Sakura instinctively winced at his grasp. Sakura clenched her jaw waiting for the pain to fade away; she took a small breath as the pain settled. Sakura slid her sleeve up and let Sasuke see the bruises still purple after getting them a week ago that Sasuke put pressure on. Sakura let him stare at the dark bruising and let him imagine how bad it originally looked as she stared determined at him, "On our first mission you nearly died protecting Naruto as I did nothing. During the beginning of the chunnin exams both you and Naruto almost died as I did nothing. I'm not going to just stand by anymore Sasuke-kun."

Sakura slid her sleeve back down as Sasuke lifted his gaze to hers, "I don't intend on dying but that's what it means to care about somebody Sasuke-kun. You care so much about somebody you're willing to put your life on the line for theirs…besides, I'm not going to get any stronger just sitting there. Being stronger let's me protect myself and the ones I care about."

Sasuke expression let go of its anger not finding any way to fight back on what she said; she said everything he refused to say about her and Naruto. He cast his gaze away from her giving up on the argument and reminding himself how much stronger he needed to become to not let her get hurt again. Sakura smiled knowing she won the argument and Sasuke didn't deny he cared about her and Naruto. Sasuke remained still as Sakura leaned her head on his shoulder. "Being unable to protect your family in the past doesn't mean you can't protect people now. You're stronger than you think."

Sasuke frowned recalling the memories of his family being murdered before him; he usually snapped at anybody bringing up the topic but he couldn't find a way to get mad at what she said. She wasn't pretending to understand she was only trying to say he was strong enough to not repeat that pain. Sasuke sat there a moment letting her rest on his shoulder and take her prescence in proving he still had people he could protect. He let his lips tilt up a little and stood holding his hand out to her, "How about that spar?"

**_end of flashback_**

So what if Sasuke used to let Sakura in? Something about her would just eat at him till he let her in. The way no matter how many times he pushed her away she would always care and try to get in till his wall broke. The way she saw through his loneliness without trying to say she understood him and what he went through…the way she made him feel emotions he tried so hard to push away. Deep down inside he knew she meant more than a friend. Deep down inside he was in love with her but he didn't figure it out until it was too late.

Sasuke glanced back over at the pinkette Sai was carrying. He was in love with the girl he was hired to protect but she couldn't even remember who he was anymore or that she loved him too. He stared hard back at the ocean before him as he kept running; he vowed that he would do everything in his power to help her regain her memories and then show her how much he loved her every single day. He just had to make her remember!

**_author's notes_**

So yeah I ended up making Sasuke figure out he loves her already; didn't really plan to do it this early put it kinda fit and this fanfic will probably be about twelve chapters tops so I don't want to put it off too long. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I know the story is different but hopefully you guys like it. I'll probably have Naruto figure out how he feels in the next chapter or two with plenty of drama and action to come! Please review it helps motivate my writing and I always respond to reviews now!


	4. Deciphering Feelings

**A/N: **Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :**..**(

_Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head_

**Forgotten**

**Ch. 4 Deciphering Feelings**

Naruto let out a groan as they finally stepped on land, "I think I used half of my chakra from running on water so long."

He let Naomi slide off his back and glanced over as the pinkette let go of Sai. Kakashi tilted his head back and forth cracking his neck, "We got lucky it was only a few hours and we weren't attacked again. If we had to battle we probably would have had to swim most the way."

Sasuke watched the pinkette in the corner of his eye carefully; she ended up sleeping part the way on Sai's back. Sai glanced at their surroundings, "Well we certainly missed the dock we were suppose to get to."

Naomi's expression furrowed a little as she stood beside Yuki, "How badly will that affect our traveling time?"

Kakashi pulled out the sea country map and laid on a log; he looked over it with Sai, "Judging by our surroundings…we missed the dock by just a few miles. We can navigate through the forest and get on the planned path in an hour if we all walk."

Naomi's expression relaxed and she gave a small nod. Team 7 could tell she was stressed about making it to the capital on time; they had four days to get the pinkette there before Katsurou would attack their island. Naruto walked over to Sasuke and muttered under his breath as he stared at the pinkette, "I'd rather leave them here and just go ahead and kill the guy."

Sasuke stared heavily at the girl their age as she talked to Naomi and muttered back, "But we need the travel time to make her remember."

Naruto glanced at the determination on Sasuke's face and gave a hopeful smile; as torturous as the experience was to escort somebody just like Sakura Naruto hadn't seen Sasuke so determined in years. Sasuke always trained vigorously from regret of letting Sakura die but their mission finally gave him something to be motivated about through a positive emotion. Naruto knew Sasuke hadn't felt something like hope in a long time and it was nice to see his best friend start to act like how he did before Sakura died; even if the mission ended with breaking their hearts maybe it could at least help Sasuke move on and start acting like his old self.

The pinkette kept her back to the shinobi escorting her; after talking to Sai she couldn't help but be consumed with guilt. There was nothing she could do about how she looked but she felt terrible for making Team 7 have to look at her and be constantly reminded of their lost teammate. The guilt of torturing their feelings was eating away at her heart and all she wanted to do was get to the palace and make them not have to look at her anymore. She gripped her hands with the fabric of her plain, white dress; even though she knew her health would probably give out within a year of living with Katsurou she just wanted the mission to be over.

Kakashi rolled the map back up after memorizing what route to take and put in in his bag. He turned to everyone trying to avoid a direct glance with the pinkette, "We'll walk till we get to the original trail so we can build our chakra back up. Sai will take front, Naruto and Sasuke you'll keep the girls between you and I'll stay in the back. Keep your senses on high, we have no idea if that last attack was bandits or is targeting us."

Everyone nodded and got in their formation as Sai led the way. The pinkette kept her eyes forward trying to forget who surrounded her; looking at Sai didn't bother her since Sai held no personal attachment to the original female member of Team 7. She actually was mildly enjoying the path they took because she had never seen such scenery before. The landscape was transforming from the beach with palm trees into a more dense forest with plants she had never seen before. Yuki had never stepped out of her small village before so it was nie for her to experience new things before she was locked away in her ruler's palace for the rest of her life.

Naruto tilted his head to glance at how the pinkette was enjoying the scenery; he gave a small bittersweet smile at her happiness and how she looked exactly like Sakura. He stood directly beside her as Sasuke stood beside Naomi; Naruto had to convince Sasuke to give him a turn. Naruto glanced around at the scenery, "You look like your enjoying your surroundings Yuki-chan."

The pinkette's heart clenched a little since she was trying to forget her traveling companions, "It's very pretty."

Naruto crossed his eyes over the occasional flowers they were beginning to pass, "What's your favorite landscape to go to?"

Her jade eyes dulled a little but she forced a small smile on her face, "I've never left my village before…but I've always wanted to see the glaciers in the Snow Country."

Naruto's eyes widened recalling the mission they spent in the Snow Country protecting an actress. He pushed himself to recall all the memories he could about the mission, "There's actually a really cool island in the snow country that's always spring time because of the new queen's necklace."

Her eyes widened a little, "How could a necklace control the weather?"

Naruto gave a smile at her, recalling how the snow melted away for the first time in years, "The necklace is a device her father passed down to her when she was little but even though it's spring there's these tall glaciers that glow all the colors of the rainbow when the sun is up. It's really cool!"

The pinkette felt her chest tighten as she tried to imagine the place; she gripped her hands in her dress trying to ignore the pain. She closed her eyes chanting in her head for the pain to go away as her foot got caught on a tree root. Her eyes struck open as she began to fall and her ankle twisted under the root. Naruto shot his arm out and quickly caught her half way and kneeled down as she laid against him, "You okay?"

The pinkette's eyes widened as she was forced to stare straight into Naruto's eyes and saw the wrenching concern. She quickly turned her face away still consumed with guilt of torturing Team 7's feeling, "I'm fine."

Everyone watched her carefully as she sat up and stood on her own again. She quickly tried to start walking again haunted by the miserable faces Team 7 gave in the kitchen that morning because of how she looked. The pinkette winced and immediately limped as pain shot up from her ankle. Naruto quickly wrapped his arm around her waist before she fell again, "Your ankle looks really swollen."

She tried to shrug his arm off, "I'm fine, I can still walk."

Naruto frowned, "But that'll just make it worse."

The pinkette avoided all the gazes on her, "I'll be fine, let's keep moving."

Her muscles tightened as a hand was placed on her shoulder but it was only Naomi. Naomi's dark blue eyes swirled in concern, "Yuki don't try to push yourself. Just let one of them carry you, walking will only make it worse and slow us down."

The pinkette's jade eyes stared into Naomi's and she couldn't help but obey the emotions Naomi gave off, "Alright…"

Guilt swam through Yuki's heart as she wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and he picked up so she could rest of his back. Sasuke was extremely tense as they began walking again and he watched as the pinkette rested on Naruto's back. He without a doubt knew she was Sakura and he knew he was in love with her. Being in love with her raised jealousy in his heart and drove thoughts of how Naruto was in love with her through his mind. He had no idea if Naruto felt that way anymore but the idea of them being together stroke too many negative emotions in his heart even though Naruto was his best friend.

Kakashi watched how stiff Sasuke became as they started walking again and Naruto carried the pinkette. It was only fair each member of Team 7 got a turn to try and make her recall her memories if she was Sakura but he could tell Sasuke was tense. Kakashi always understood his two remaining students more than he lead on and he couldn't help but watch Sasuke out of curiosity; he had never seen Sasuke jealous before. Kakashi knew even before Sakura disappeared on that dreadful day that Sasuke had a soft spot for her and deep down feelings were developing for her, but Sasuke had to find out from losing her how he felt. Kakashi could only hope Yuki was Sakura for the sake of Team 7's hearts and so Sasuke could have a second chance, but then there was Naruto. Kakashi couldn't tell how Naruto felt about the pinkette anymore either and he wanted a fair chance for both his students if they got it. Getting Sakura back would surely bring them all closer but they would have battle over Sakura's heart and one recover from a broken heart before everything would be okay. Kakashi silently sighed and shook his head; he didn't need to be considering what would happen with Sakura back when he didn't even know if it was her. For all he knew Sakura really was dead like it had seemed the whole time. He glanced up as Naruto jumped into the trees with the pinkette for privacy and Sasuke became even more tense.

The pinkette tightened her arms around Naruto in alarm as he began to travel about everyone else in the trees, "Wh-what are you doing?"

Naruto smiled thinking through ways to bring Sakura out of her, "Giving you a better view."

The teenage girl was at a loss for words since she couldn't think of an excuse to get down. Naruto took the silence as victory and slowly jumped from tree to tree, "So don't you ever get curious about where you come from?"

Her jade eyes widened knowing he was trying to make her think she was his lost teammate and tapping into an emotional topic for her, "Not really…"

Naruto kept his positive tone in his voice, "Come on, every orphan wonders about their parents. I still do it every once in a while."

Her eyes widened, "You're an orphan?"

Naruto gave a nod not getting emotional over the topic, "Yeah, supposedly my parents died when I was a baby but I never got to learn who they were…but that's alright because my friends are my family now."

The pinkette frowned, "I'm sorry"

Naruto shrugged, "Can't to do anything to change it, just kinda wish I knew something about them. You're parents could totally be alive though! Don't you ever wonder if you have family out there looking for you?"

The teenage girl's demeanor dulled, "Yeah…but I made a family. My birth parents don't matter."

Naruto frowned a little, "Just because you made a new family doesn't mean they did. I know there's people desperately missing you from where you came from…Just because you're okay doesn't mean they are."

The pinkette's heart sunk dramatically, even if he wasn't referring to her as Sakura he could be right about her original family. Whatever she did to end up next to her little village could be causing her original family pain, "Maybe…but, once I marry Katsurou-sama maybe they'll hear about me and recognize me…but even if they don't there's nothing I can do about it."

Naruto's frown deepened, "Find them. Quit this suicidal marriage crap and go find them!"

Her jade eyes widened and anger began to swell in her heart, "You don't get to tell me what to do! You're here to take me there not try to make me think I'm some lost teammate. I'm saving my people whether you and your friends like it or not!"

Naruto's eyes widened as she flared her temper at him, she had a temper just like Sakura. He remained quiet as the memories started to eat at him and she took a stab at his hope. She just didn't want to remember. Naruto without out a doubt knew she was Sakura, she had to be, but she was so determined on protecting her people that she refused to remember. The pinkette let her anger subside as Naruto continued quietly jumping trees. The anger was gone and she was soon consumed with guilt again for tarnishing his feelings and whatever kind of hope he had that she was Sakura. She dully glanced down at the other member's of Team 7 letting the guilt eat at her heart. Naruto was saddened with memories of Sakura playing through his head and how much he longed for her to return. He closed his eyes and focused trying to force his motivation. He promised himself after seeing the pinkette that he would bring her home and he never went back on his word. Naruto used his ninja way to drive his motivation and hope back into full force again and placed a smile back on his face, "Didn't expect you to have a temper."

The pinkette curiously looked at him surprised that he was acting so positive after what she said, "I…I don't have a temper."

Naruto smirked, "Uh-huh keep telling yourself that; you probably just don't hang around the kind of people to bring it out of you."

Her jade eyes narrowed a little, "Why would I want to hang around people that make me angry?"

Naruto gave a small laugh, "Cause those are the best friendships! Only best friends can be close enough to make each other mad and still be friends. It's like me and Sasuke-teme we're so close we fight like brothers!"

The pinkette paused a moment trying to imagine that kind of relationship, "Were…were you like that with Sakura?"

Naruto paused a slight moment caught off guard by the pinkette mentioning her, "Sort of…I'd usually just hit on her even though I know she didn't like me and got yelled at. I always got the worst of her temper from acting like such a kid but it was really fun seeing how far I could push her."

The pinkette gave a small smile trying to imagine the relationship, "You must've liked her a lot…"

Naruto eyes dimmed a little, "Yeah…I did."

Yuki tensed a little noticing she caused him to trail off in thought and began to feel guilty about the whole mission again. Naruto continued to think over the thought; he hadn't really considered how he felt about Sakura anymore. He was determined to make Yuki remember who she really was and bring her home but he hadn't thought where their relationship stood when they got home. He still thought she was beautiful but he thought a lot of girls were beautiful that he didn't love. Sakura was still obviously beyond important to him but he wasn't sure if he still loved her. He thought over how madly in love Sakura had always been in with Sasuke and how that'd probably still continue but for once it didn't make him sad. Thinking about Sasuke and Sakura together didn't make him depressed anymore like it did when he was younger. He actually wanted Sasuke to have her so Sasuke finally had a chance at happiness and Sakura's love was met. Sasuke was his brother and Sakura was his sister. Naruto's grin finally grew again as he thought about it, he got to have a brother and a sister when he came home with the pinkette. Besides he was sure he could find a girl back in Konoha that would go on a date with him, "Thanks Yuki-chan"

Her jade eyes immediately glance up again in surprise, "For what?"

Naruto gave an excited smile, "You made me realize how I felt when I couldn't."

The pinkette's guilty heart relaxed a little as she started to feel a little happy she could do something for him. He really was wonderful, cheery person and was great company if she'd stop feeling so guilty, "Glad I could help."

Sasuke continued to clench and unclench his fists as he resisted the urge to steal the pinkette from Naruto. The idea of Naruto rekindling his love for the pinkette drove him insane and he was doing everything he could to avoid showing it. Naruto was his best friend and he only wanted good things to happen for him but his jealousy was driving him up a wall. Sakura disappeared saying she loved him but what if after all this time her feelings changed. Even if she recalled her memories she had still been a different person for three and a half years; it was irrational to think she'd be the exact same Sakura after all that time and if she wasn't the same Sakura she may not have the same feelings for him. Sakura not loving him anymore racked Sasuke to the core; he had finally realized he loved her but his feelings might be rejected and he wasn't sure how he could take that. Sasuke also didn't know if he could take her feelings changing to loving Naruto. He wanted his friend to be happy and have the chance to be happy but he didn't think he could be around them if they were together. Sasuke heart twisted painfully, he'd lose his only friends and his friends were his family. He didn't think he could survive losing Sakura to Naruto.

Naomi watched with a small smile as Naruto took the pinkette on a ride through the trees; she thought it was nice Naruto was trying to let her experience the best of her trip before she sold her life to Katsurou. Deep down she wished the marriage didn't work out so the pinkette could be free to live her life but she didn't know if she could wish the death of everyone in her village for that. The pinkette was her sister and she wanted to protect her but she also wanted to protect her home. She made a glance at all of the shinobi around; deep down she also thought Yuki was Sakura. Naomi had always thought everything happened for a reason and she couldn't help but think it was fate Team 7 was appointed to travel with them but Team 7 could make her lose the pinkette. If she recalled her memories she had no idea what kind of impact it would have on the decision to protect their home or if she'd go back to Konoha. She wanted the pinkette's happiness more than anything but she didn't want to lose her home or the pinkette to the shinobi around her. Naomi gave a long glance with her dark blue eyes at Kakashi, "What do you plan to do if the meeting goes badly?"

Kakashi glanced back at her understanding her concerns, "Don't worry you and Yuki will be safe."

Naomi frowned, "Thank you but what about his men? Are you going to protect our village if it doesn't go well or leave us for dead?"

Kakashi gave a sincere look at the young woman, "I promise if things go badly we'll make sure your home is safe."

Naomi stared into his eyes a moment and gave a small smile believing him, "Thank you"

Sasuke stared hard at the path before him, "Do you want it to go bad?"

Kakashi frowned for Sasuke accusing her of such a thing. Naomi's eyes widened, "No of course not! I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Sasuke frowned still not looking at her, "But you're okay with Yuki selling her life to your ruler where it won't take long for her health to give out. What a good friend."

Kakashi glared, "Sasuke!"

Naomi's expression harshened, "Of course I don't want that! I wish she wasn't doing this but it's what she wants. I'd gladly take her place if I could!"

Sasuke glanced at her in the corner of his eye, "But you can't. So you do you want her giving her life away or the meeting to go badly so she has a chance to live."

Naomi stopped in her tracks speechless. She obviously wanted the later but she couldn't say it; she couldn't say she wanted the mission to fail. All she wanted was for her people to be safe but she didn't want to openly admit she wanted to put everyone's lives in danger so the pinkette couldn't go through with what she wanted. Sai glanced back waiting for Naomi to start walking again but frowned at her hurt face, "Sasuke I think you know very well she wants the same as us. Stop pushing her to say something she's not suppose to say."

Sasuke glared at Sai still stuck in his terrible, jealous mood and prepared to snap back at him. Kakashi quickly put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and motioned for everyone to keep moving, "Easy Sasuke, you know he's right. Everyone just wants her safety, now let's keep moving before she gets worried about us arguing and realizes you're pushing her best friend into a corner."

Sasuke quickly shrugged Kakashi's hand off his shoulder and started walking again; he really needed to get in a better mood. Sasuke couldn't be so heartless the whole time if he wanted the pinkette to get her memories back; he needed to let his habit of a cold personality go if he wanted any chance of making the pinkette willing to talk to him.

**_a few hours later_**

The pinkette continued to enjoy the scenery from the higher view Naruto was giving her; being around his positive aura was making it hard for her to start drowning in guilt again for looking like Sakura. She smiled as they finally got back on their originally set path; they would make it to Katsurou's palace in time. Her heart crumbled a little at the idea of being locked away the rest of her life after Naruto brought out her deep desire to know her original family, "Hey Naruto…what kind of friends to you have back home. I know you said your friends are family and all…but what are they like?"

Naruto blinked in curiosity over what got her asking about but Konoha but he was glad to use it as a chance to help her bring back her memories, "Well my first real friend is Iruka-sensei. He's the sensei that taught Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan, and me at the academy. We get ramen a lot and he's pretty much my dad. After that I started making good friends with the rookie nine. Only nine students a year can graduate to being a genin and are out in three teams. It took a little while but I got really close to Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme. Then there's Kiba, Shino, and Hinata as a team. Kiba is really loud and trains with dogs, Shino can get really depressing sometimes but he's cool and works with bugs, and Hinata is really shy but she's also really strong and really pretty!"

"The other team is Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino. Shikamaru is really lazy but he's actually the biggest genius I know and Chouji is really obsessed with food and uses his size to create attacks. Ino gets on my nerves sometimes but she was Sakura-chan's best friend so we talk about her a lot. She's totally high maintenance but has gotten really strong since Sakura-chan disappeared. They used to have really funny nicknames for each other, Sakura-chan called her Ino-pig. Then there's a year older team TenTen, Neji, and Lee but I call him Bushy Brows. TenTen is the best weapon handler I know and is pretty funny, Neji is the prodigy of his clan but can be a bit of a hard ass at times, and Bushy Brows trains harder than any of us and is always super motivated! We used to fight over going on dates with Sakura-chan even though she'd never go with us. Then there's all our other sensei and Hokage and people I've met on missions."

He pinkette's eyes swirled in curiosity, "You make a lot of friends on missions?"

Naruto laughed a little, "Yeah it's a bit of habit. I always seem to end up making friends on missions, even sometimes with the enemy."

The pinkette paused and glanced over a little shy, "So, it's okay if…we…become friends…"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and his heart felt like it was doing flips in his chest. Naruto gave a ginormous smile at making a connection with her and hoping it'd help her get her memories back, "Of course! We can be best friends!"

The pinkette gave a small smile not feeling so guilty anymore. Now that they were friends that meant Naruto could hang around her for her and not just because she looked like Sakura. Naruto couldn't stop smiling and gave a small glance at the people below him; his eyes hesitated on Sasuke. Sasuke did not look happy and he couldn't remember the last time he did. Naruto tilted his gaze back at the pinkette a little, "As a friend can you promise to give Sasuke a chance? I know he can be a real cold-hearted bastard at times but it's only because he's been through a lot in life. He really does mean well."

The pinkette glanced down as her jade eyes rested on Sasuke noticing how unhappy he was. Guilt swirled in heart again but she also couldn't but want to make such an unhappy person smile, "I promise…"

**_a few hours later_**

Naruto hopped down from a tree with Yuki still on his back after getting a signal from Kakashi. Everyone stopped in their tracks as Kakashi prepared to give orders. "The sun will go down soon and we still need to find food. We'll take camp here for the night and leave at sunrise; we'll discuss guard shifts later."

Everyone nodded and went about their tasks to set camp. Naruto went out for firewood, Sasuke to catch food, and Sai on watch as Kakashi helped the girls build a tent. The pinkette gave a bright smile as the tent was finally completely and felt excited to learn something new. Naomi began placing their things inside the tent as Kakashi sat on a log waiting for the others to get back with supplies. The pinkette gave a nervous fidget and sat beside him; his eyes widened a little in surprise. She gave a small glance with her jade eyes at him and clenched her hands together, "Do you usually do so much traveling in one day?"

Kakashi tried to keep a neutral face as he wondered why the pinkette had suddenly become so social, "We usually do more. Depending on how urgent the mission is we'll go two days straight without stopping and go at a faster pace."

Her jade eyes quickly widened trying to imagine pushing her body that far, "Wow…I wish I had the stamina to do that."

Kakashi's shown eye narrowed as her voice got quieter at the end of her sentence; he knew she was talking about her lack of health, "Do you know why your body is so fragile?"

She shook her head and avoided eye contact, "No…I've been this way for as long as I could remember."

There was a small pause. Kakashi let his mind run rampant with ideas, "What does it feel like when your body suddenly collapses like this morning?"

The pinkette tapped her fingers, "I'll be a little more active than usual and feel perfectly fine at first…but then its like my body suddenly hits a wall and shuts down."

Kakashi's expression tightened, "So it feels like something is literally blocking you from being active?"

She gave a small nod. Kakashi let his mind wander as Naomi got out of the tent and Naruto stepped into the clearing with firewood. Kakashi tried to imagine what kind of restriction could be put on the girl but he could only think of seals, or a seal if was Sakura. If the pinkette wasn't who he was desperately hoping she was she could just have been born fragile, but if it was Sakura something was wrong. Sakura wasn't the strongest on the team but she was certainly active; something would have to prevent her from being at least in the shape she already was a few years ago. Kakashi knew a visible seal would already be noticed so it would have to be a high-grade invisible seal or inside her body. Kakashi gave a small sigh as Sasuke came back with food and they all began to eat; he only wished he spent more time training with Sakura to begin with so maybe she would've stood a better chance against Orochimaru. Kakashi had always focused so much on the boys since it sometimes was just too painful to look at Sakura. Sakura was such a remarkable replication of Rin, especially with the love triangle in Team 7. Kakashi was ridden with guilt for killing Rin every time he looked at Sakura he avoided extra time with her; looking at Sakura just made him wonder what Rin could've been like if she lived…if he could've kept his promise to Obito. The guilt had only grown after realizing his lack of attention to Sakura could've been what got her killed; he just wished he could've protected her like he couldn't protect Rin. Kakashi gave a small glance at the pinkette and how Sasuke was looking at her; he really hoped with everything he had that Yuki was Sakura and she would remember. His expression tightened as she gave a small smile at Naruto's joke; he also vowed to protect her on that mission no matter who she ended up being.

In the midst of his vow Sai gave a scream of alarm and kunai began flying in their direction.

**_author's notes_**

So I certainly planned to update sooner but for some reason I just kept hitting writers block every so 1,000 words in the chapter. Anyways I know there really wasn't much SasuSaku even though Sasuke knows he loves her but I thought it was important to clarify how Naruto and Kakashi felt. Hope Sasuke's jealousy entertained you a little and I promise the next chapter will have a little more action and drama; hope this chapter wasn't too boring for you. ALSO! I originally planned to end this in a couple of chapters when the whole Katsurou meeting goes down but I may change my mind…maybe. Don't wanna say much cuz I don't wanna give it away but once I get to that chapter you'll have to tell me what you think. And for anybody wondering about my New Life sequel I've got plenty of ideas but I can't seem to think of a title, any ideas? Please review! Gives my lots of motivation to write and I respond!


	5. Serpents

**A/N: **Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :**..**(

_Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head_

**Forgotten**

**Ch. 5 Serpents**

Sasuke's eyes widened in panic at Sai's warning and kunai came flying down in their direction; he immediately tackled the pinkette out of the way before a kunai went straight through her heart. The pinkette's jade eyes went wide in alarm as everyone prepared for battle and Naruto summoned a clone to protect Naomi. Sasuke quickly stood with her and pulled out his katana, "Stay close to me!"

The pinkette nodded in alarm as six disguised ninja jumped into their clearing and set out an array of attacks. Sasuke let his Sharingan go ablaze as one enemy headed towards him. The enemy had several kunai in hand at met every swing Sasuke took with his katana; Sasuke diverted his attention as another enemy slipped passed Naruto and rocketed at the pinkette. The pinkette screamed and stumbled backwards; Sasuke growled as he let lightning surround him, shocking the current attacker, and launched towards the other. Sasuke quickly got in front of the pinkette hell bent on protecting her and slashed down the man across his chest. The other five enemies glanced in alarm as one fell dead and they attacked even harder. Naruto and his clone tangled with two men who seemed to dodge every attack he swung at them. Kakashi used his Sharingan in close hand combat as the man gave a few water based attacks and Kakashi returned them with fire. Sai easily spun around his enemy with his short blade but was struggling to make a hit. Sasuke stood defensibly in front of the pinkette as the remaining one stood recovering from the shock and threw more kunai at Sasuke. With a quick spin of his katana Sasuke deflected the kunai and glared at the man. Sasuke narrowed his eyes noticing how the man kept his eyes on the pinkette instead of Sasuke; it didn't make sense for a shinobi not to focus on his enemy. Unless… Sasuke's eyes darkened as in two swift steps he reached the man giving several blows to his back, rocketing him into the ground, and sent another burst of lightning on him to knock him out.

The pinkette watched Sasuke in mild fear of him and what all the ninja were capable of; she had watched him kill somebody right in front of her. Her jade eyes quickly moved to Naomi and noticed how Naruto's clone protecting her was punched and turned to a puff a smoke. The enemy quickly used that opportunity to head towards Sasuke while he busy pinning the man down with kunai; the pinkette's heart swirled with a some how familiar worry and she screamed, "Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke's ears perked at her call registering a thousand old memories of Sakura calling his name but turned at the charging enemy. Sasuke glared and quickly caught the man by his neck; Sasuke prepared to crush his throat but was heavily kicked in the stomach forcing him to let go. Naruto growled as he knocked away his enemy and glanced over as Sasuke's enemy got out of his reach and headed towards the pinkette; Naruto's eyes went wide in alarm and he quickly summoned a clone, "Come on!"

The pinkette's heart raced in fear as the masked man ran towards her with menace in his eyes. She prepared to run but stumbled and fell to the ground; she gasped as she looked at the man almost reaching her with his weapon in hand and the urge to kill in his eyes. Her eyes watered waiting for the pain but she gasped as Sasuke quickly flew his body over hers, facing her. She looked into his eyes seeing the pure urge to protect and prepared to scream as the enemy slammed his kunai down. Sasuke's bared for the worse but listened as Naruto's clone quickly drove his elbow into the man's neck, rocketing him to the side. The pinkette relaxed a little in relief and continued to look in Sasuke's eyes as he hovered right over her; a small blush crept over her cheeks as their bodies were almost touching, "Th-thank you…"

Sasuke's eyes widened a little realizing why she was blushing and quickly stood with Naruto's clone watching as the man he attacked stood again. The pinkette watched as the two best friends worked together and used a barrage of attacks till the man fell dead. Kakashi's enemy cursed as the previous six attackers now had two dead and one unconscious; the enemy quickly made a single and raced back into the trees. Naruto's eyes widened as the remaining three men quickly retreated. Sai prepared to go after them but Kakashi advised him not to. Kakashi sighed as they all stood under the dark sky and he glanced at the two young women, "Everyone alright?"

Everyone nodded and Naruto let his clone disappear. Kakashi glanced at the three bodies lying on the ground and glanced back at his teammates, "Any clue to what they were after?"

Sasuke walked over the unconscious body as everyone shook their heads and he lifted the man up by his shirt, "Maybe we can get it out of him."

Everyone looked at the unconscious man and Kakashi gave an analyzing look, "Tie him up."

**_an hour later_**

The attacker was tied to a post with ninja wire and injected with paralyzing ink in his limbs that Sai had so he couldn't escape. Naomi had already gone to bed but the pinkette was too unsettled to sleep. Sasuke made a small glance in her direction still waiting for the attacker to wake up…she had called him Sasuke-kun; the whole other part of the trip she had just simply called him Sasuke but in that split moment of panic she called him what Sakura always had. Sasuke couldn't help but think the moment of urgency brought it out of Sakura's memory that buried deep within Yuki; he couldn't think of another reason. Sasuke and Kakashi turned as the attacker started to stir. Sai was on first watch and Naruto was trying to sleep since he had the next. The attacker shifted around a little and then widened his eyes in alarm; he quickly looked around him and glared at the two Sharingan users. Kakashi kneeled down to meet his eye level, "We're going to have a little talk."

The attacker gave a disgusted look, "I'm not talking."

Kakashi sighed and stood back starting to walk away, "Go ahead Sasuke."

The pinkette glanced up at Kakashi walked into the clearing and laid down on his sleeping bag; she curiously got up and walked a few feet towards Sasuke's interrogation. Sasuke let his Sharingan go ablaze and immediately caught the man's vision before he had the chance to turn away. Sasuke let the man fall further into the Sharingan's possession as the pinkette took a few steps closer, "Why did you attack us?"

The man's face was blank as he was forced to answer, "It was a mission."

Sasuke's face harshened, "Were you the ones who attacked us out at sea?"

"They were another hired team."

Sasuke's eyes darkened, "What were you after?"

"The girl"

Sasuke's eyes widened a little, "Which girl?"

"Katsurou's bride"

Sasuke's expression darkened as his suspicions where made true, "Why?"

"To destroy the peace exchange."

Sasuke's voice went deeper, "Who told you to target her?"

"He was disguised…I don't know"

Sasuke growled and he punched the man, releasing him from the Sharingan. The man collapsed to ground unconscious again as Sasuke paced in anger. The pinkette hid behind a tree with her heart pounding; they were after her. Her jade eyes swirled with worry; she was putting Naomi and the others in danger by being with them. She quietly walked back to the clearing and sat on a log; she didn't want to put their lives in jeopardy. She glanced up as Sasuke walked up behind her and gave her an analyzing look; something about those dark eyes just made Yuki want to protect him. She didn't know why but she just wanted to protect him. Sasuke watched her as she looked into his eyes; he immediately turned his gaze, her expression was too much like Sakura's. Sasuke ran his hand through his hair and glanced back at her, "You should probably get some rest; we'll be getting up early."

The pinkette tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear and was absorbed in the memory of how he protected her instead of guilt, "Yeah…goodnight."

She tossed him a small smile before going into her tent and leaving him alone. Sasuke stood there a moment captured by the memory of her blushing under him during the attack; he was inches from lying across her. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair again before lying down in his sleeping bag; being surrounded by the person he loved was torture when she didn't remember him.

**_before sunrise_**

The pinkette slowly stirred in her tent; she glanced at sleeping Naomi beside her. She quietly got up slipped out of the tent without waking her friend. She analyzed Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sai sleeping on the floor and started creeping past them. "Where are you going?"

The pinkette froze and gave a nervous glance up to see Naruto sitting on guard duty. She clenched her jaw and gave a small smile, "Um, I need to go to the bathroom."

The pinkette started walking again. Naruto kept his eyes on her, "Do you want me to send a clone with you for protection?"

She gave a thankful smile to him but shook her head, "No thanks, I won't go far."

Naruto gave a small smile back, "Alright, just yell if you need me."

Yuki gave a quick nod and started walking through the forest; the farther she got the more she picked up her pace. She couldn't stand putting the others in danger…she just had to get away. The enemy was after her and she didn't want the others to be put at risk because of her. If she was lucky the enemy would head towards Team 7 and Naomi looking for her but move on after realizing she was gone; she just had to get to the palace before they found her. She picked up her pace even more trying to get away before they noticed she was gone and just hoped her bad health wouldn't get the best of her.

**_back at the clearing_**

Naruto glanced down as the sun finally rose into the sky and he hoped down from the tree he was sitting on. He tapped his teammates on the shoulder with his foot and his way over to Naomi's tent to wake her. Sasuke rose out of his sleeping bag along with his other teammates and cracked his neck. He started rolling up his sleeping bag and putting his things away. Kakashi glanced over as Naomi walked out of her tent as he was putting his things away, "Where's Yuki?"

Everyone immediately turned to Naruto. "She went to the bathroom a little while ago."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "How long ago?"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, "Um, like fifteen minutes ago…"

Sasuke quickly stood and glared at him, "You didn't think that was too long?!"

Naruto frowned a little, "I thought girls always took a while?"

Sasuke growled as he threw his things in his bag, "Not that long you moron!"

Everyone quickly put their things in their bags. Naomi looked around in concern, "Do you think she got attacked?"

Kakashi kept a calm face as he summoned his tracking dog, "I don't know…"

Pakkun quickly appeared before them in a puff of smoke, "What can I do for you?"

Kakashi glanced at Naruto, "Which way did she go?"

Naruto pointed in the pinkette's direction. Kakashi looked directly at his dog, "I need you to track our client that went in that direction."

Naruto quickly picked up Naomi on his back as Pakkun started sniffing the ground and caught her scent. The all started running in her direction as thunder crashed through the sky. Sasuke cursed as rain started to fall from the sky and he knew the scent would soon be lost. Pakkun tried his hardest to keep the scent and made a small glance up at Kakashi, "Kakashi…"

Kakashi glanced down at his small mutter. Pakkun gave a nervous look in his eyes, "The girl…she smells like Sakura…"

Kakashi's eyes widened tremendously as the hope it was his dear student rose again. His heart was pounding over the possibility of it being her, "We need to hurry."

**_farther in the forest_**

The pinkette stumbled as she tried to jog through the forest under the pouring rain. Her body felt heavy and she could tell her body couldn't take much more; she shook her head and kept going. She couldn't go back to the others…the only thing she could do was put them in danger. Her jade swirled with sadness; if she got away then she wouldn't see Naomi again. She hadn't considered when she left it was her last time seeing her best friend. The pinkette knew her best friend would be furious that she took off but angrier about the fact she ran off without saying goodbye. She bit her lip trying to ignore the lonely feeling in the pit of her stomach; her feelings didn't matter, their safety did.

The pinkette stumbled and crashed into the wet ground as her long hair stuck to her face. She breathed heavy trying to ignore the pain of her fall and started pushing herself up. She clenched her jaw and let her vision clear as she sat on the ground. She took a slow breath once she felt okay and started glancing around. She immediately froze and lost all the color in her face as she looked in front of her. A large white snake about six feet long slithered towards her. She immediately began shaking as an extreme sense of panic started racketing through her and flashes of terrifying images seeped through her mind. The snake came closer, she shrieked.

**_a mile back_**

Sasuke's ears perked at the shriek and his instincts sent him rocketing in that direction. His teammates were close behind but he was the fastest; he was so driven by the urge to protect the one he loved that she found her in split seconds. He dark eyes quickly settled on her horrified face and the large snake getting closer and closer. He quickly jumped down and sliced it into three pieces and it fell dead. He sheathed his sword and turned to yell at the pinkette for going off on her own but froze when he saw her face. The pinkette was still madly shaking, looked ghost white, and was staring off in horror not even noticing him. Sasuke nervously kneeled down to her and waved his hand in front of her face. She remained the same and he noticed her heavy breathing. Everyone else finally got to the area as Sasuke looked deep in her eyes, she was petrified, "Hey…Yuki…"

She remained in terrified state even after he spoke to her. He rested his hand on her arm and she still didn't move; he shook her a little and she remained the same.

"Oh no…"

Everyone looked up at Naomi after her words. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "What?"

Naomi's eyes were pinned on the dead snake, "The snake…she saw a snake. She's completely traumatized by snakes…you'll have to knock her out…"

Everyone stayed quiet a moment at the idea of hitting the pinkette. Sasuke slowly turned to her to look over her horrified state…he didn't want her to suffer. Sasuke smoothly moved up to her and pulled the pinkette into his chest; he tried to ignore how much she was shaking and landed a sharp blow to her neck. The pinkette finally stopped shaking and went limp into his chest. Sasuke frowned as he cradled her in his arms and stood up. He gave a small glance at the snake and let his face furrow, "Let's go."

The traveling remained silent for the next twenty minutes as Sasuke continued carrying the pinkette in his arms. Naruto traveled through the trees beside him with Naomi on his back, Sai in front and Kakashi in back. Naruto glanced at the pinkette in Sasuke's arms and frowned a little, "Hey Naomi, why's she so afraid of snakes."

Everyone glanced at her. Naomi gave a small frown, "Every once in a while she has this terrible nightmare. There's this white snake with purple surrounding its gold eyes that brutally murders her and everyone she knows. She wakes up screaming and spends hours in that terrified state unless you knock her out."

Everyone else remained silent with the same thought in their heads. A white snake with purple surrounding its gold eyes, that perfectly described Orochimaru. Orochimaru was the one to kill her or make her dying before she disappeared. The pinkette was haunted by nightmares of Orochimaru. Sasuke narrowed his eyes; there was no way that girl could dream such a thing unless she met Orochimaru and there was no way she would meet him on that little island. She had to be Sakura; everything kept pointing to her being Sakura. Sasuke's heart clenched as he looked down at the pinkette in his arms; she had to be Sakura.

**_a few hours later_**

Sasuke glanced down again at the pinkette in his arms and frowned; she still hadn't woken up yet. It usually didn't take somebody so long to recover but he assumed it was because of the pinkette's low health. He fought the urge to sigh; he just didn't know what to do. He was absolutely sure she was Sakura but he didn't know how to go about making her remember who she was. He wasn't even sure how to go about talking to her; Sasuke knew he was never the friendliest person and after Sakura disappeared he just stopped being nice to people, stopped talking to people. Sasuke's social skills were at a serious disadvantage but he couldn't just sit by and not say anything to her. If she was Sakura that meant she would hopefully still love him and nobody would be better to bring out her memories than the one she loved. Sasuke frowned, if she loved him. He gave a small glance at Naruto; it seemed like they got along quite well during traveling yesterday. Sasuke gave a small disgusted look; the idea of Sakura loving somebody else drove him wild with jealousy. Sasuke was very possessive with people he was close to; his family being murdered caused him to want to keep his important people only in his care, besides Team 7. Team 7 was his new family so they could be together but Sasuke couldn't help but be a little displeased when they socialized outside the family. They were the only people Sasuke had and he hated the idea of losing them to somebody else.

Sasuke immediately skidded to a halt while standing on a tree branch and caused the rest of his teammates to stop as well. Sasuke glanced down at the pinkette as stirred on his arms. Naruto hopped next to him on the tree branch as him and Naomi on his back watched her as well. The pinkette's mind was fuzzy as she blinked a few times. Her expression furrowed waiting for her vision to clear up and when it did she caught sight of Sasuke's mildly concerned face. She stayed still a moment looking at him feeling a little nostalgic and then glanced around to see the rest of her traveling companions. She rubbed the back of her neck a little sore from being knocked out, "What happened?"

Sasuke frowned, "You ran off."

Her jade eyes widened a little realizing she had been caught and hardly even gotten far. She frowned away and avoided his gaze, "I meant after that."

Naomi gave a soft look, "You ran into a snake."

Sasuke watched as the pinkette instinctively gripped his arm at the thought of it. She shifted uncomfortably trying to let the thought pass, "Oh…"

Sasuke continued to analyze her trying to learn her every habit and compare her to Sakura. He noticed her continued awkwardness and gave a small sigh, "Let's just keep moving."

The pinkette glanced up as he continued traveling again letting the awkward silence end. She gave a small smile hoping he was trying to be considerate instead of rushed; he didn't seem the like the idea of her going to the palace so she couldn't imagine him wanting to get there sooner. "So why'd you run off?"

Her jade eyes nervously looked up at him as she laid in his arms and she glanced back down, "I…I heard your interrogation last night."

Sasuke kept a calm face but tried to imagine how she felt being targeted, "So?"

The pinkette frowned further, "They're after me…I didn't want you to be in danger."

Sasuke's heart twisted a little knowing that was something Sakura would say, "And you thought running off alone was any better; you do realize you're completely defenseless right?"

Anger swirled in her heart a little, "It's better than letting all of you get hurt because of me! I don't want you to get hurt on my behalf."

Sasuke frowned, "In case you haven't noticed my team is very good at defending ourselves and you…and what were you going to do if you got caught by the enemy? They'd kill you and your home would get slaughtered because of it. It was a stupid idea and you know it."

Sakura gave a deep frown but remained quiet. She just wanted to protect them; she didn't want to be baggage. She gave a small sigh, he was right about her home. She hadn't considered the full consequence of her actions towards her home when she left. Katsurou was not a kind man and would take no excuses for her not arriving at his palace. Her jade eyes swirled starting to feel guilty about her decisions, "Sorry…but…what are you going to do…you know we'll get attacked again."

Sasuke tightened his grip around her a little, "We have the advantage knowing they're coming, we'll be ready next time…and no matter what I'll protect you."

The pinkette glanced up and looked at his determined face. A small blush ran across her cheeks as she rested in his warm arms. She leaned her head against his chest and gave a small smile, "Thank you"

Sasuke gave a quick surprised look down at her and had a warm feeling in his stomach. He was starting to make a connection with her…His lips tilted up a little and he gave a calm look as she rested in his arms, "You're welcome"

**_author's notes_**

Hey guys! Sorry the chapter's a little short but I know I haven't updated in a while. So a little more drama and action than last time which I hope you like. I also hope you were pleased with the amount of SasuSaku; I know they're could have been more but they've only known each other for like three days so I didn't wanna push it, especially when she felt guilty the whole first two days about looking like Sakura and torturing their feelings. I'll be leaving for college in eight days, super excited to go back! But I'll probably update a little less so hopefully in the next eight days I'll have time to update a little more between packing and seeing home friends a few more times. Anyways please review! I respond to all reviews and they encourage me to write!


	6. Her Necklace

**A/N: **Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :**..**(

_Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head_

**Forgotten**

**Ch. 6 Her Necklace**

The pinkette smiled as she twirled around ankle-deep in the river. She walked further in with a big gleam in her eyes as Naruto and Sai fished for food. Naomi gave a big smile watching the way the pinkette got so excited over being somewhere new. Flowers surrounded the river and there was a break in the trees so the sun could reflect on the water and all the gleaming rocks. Sasuke watched the way her long rosette locks swayed back and forth and the sun made her hair shine as she twirled in her white dress. Kakashi placed down some firewood and looked at the way her jade eyes swirled with joy; he missed that look. He missed Sakura's smile. Kakashi gave a small glance at Naruto, "Catch anything yet?"

Naruto gave a small pout, "Sai's got better bait."

Sasuke gave an amused smirk at Sai's growing pile of fish and Naruto's bare pile. The pinkette gave a small giggle at his trouble and glanced into the water; her smile grew as she felt the fish slipped past her feet. She gave a nervous look at Sasuke, "Can you toss me one of the cooking rods?"

Sasuke paused a moment trying to prevent himself from giving a surprised look. He picked up one of the thin metal cooking rods and held it out to her. The pinkette gave a small pout, "You can toss it, I'll be fine."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in interest and slowly tossed it. She caught it the way you'd catch a weapon staff and twirled it in her hand. Sasuke gave a suspicious expression, "Where'd you learn that?"

The pinkette rose an eyebrow, "How to catch?"

Sasuke kept a serious face, "How to twirl a bar like that."

The pinkette' eyes widened a little and she glanced at the bar in her hand, "Oh…I don't know."

Sasuke clenched his hands over his crossed arms. It was shinobi instinct to do that; another sign she was Sakura. The pinkette tossed the thought aside and focused all her attention in the water towards the fish. Naruto gave a hesitant look, "You sure you can do that?"

The pinkette shrugged, "I want to try."

Everyone watched her aware she'd never done it before but if her shinobi instincts were still in her then she'd be able to do it. Her jade eyes scanned over the water and she used the water flowing past her feet to judge water speed. A sort of exceeded attention span she'd never felt before loomed over her and it felt like things were in slow motion. A fish swam past her foot and she swung the rod. Water splashed into the air as the metal rod struck at a high speed and stabbed the fish perfectly through. Team 7's eyes widened as the pinkette jumped up and down in excitement. She quickly ran over to the metal rod and pulled it out of the water with the fish at the end, "I got it!"

Sasuke's eyes swirled with intensity; the way she caught and threw the metal bar would be the same way a shinobi handled a spear. There was no way she could do that unless she was Sakura. Kakashi clenched his jaw and noticed the pinkette starting to catch the tension, "Well Naruto, looks she can catch fish even better than you."

Naruto was broken from his train of thought over Sakura and snapped his head back, "Hey that was luck!"

Sai smirked as he reeled another fish in with his rod, "You're just incompetent at survival skills."

Naruto gave him a mild glare, "Am not! If there was a deer or something I could easily take it down! Fish are just slippery!"

Everyone but Sasuke started laughing; Sasuke wasn't going to let it go. He took a couple steps forward and looked at the pinkette, "Yuki…"

She looked up at him and noticed the kunai in his hand. She gave a nervous look at him, "Yes…"

Sasuke tried to keep an emotionless face, "Ever use one of these before?"

She shook her head. "Would you like to?"

Everyone watched with caution as the pinkette paused. She took a couple steps toward him and out of the river and looked in his eyes, "Sure"

Sasuke's eyes brightened a little as he handed it to her. He pulled another out for himself and showed her how to hold it; she did so. He then raised and threw it towards a tree, stabbing it half way through. The pinkette clenched the kunai in nerves, "I…I don't think I can do that. What if I aim wrong and hit somebody?"

Sasuke tried to give a calm look, "I think you can and all of us can easily catch it."

She gulped but held it up prepared to throw it; her heart pounded madly and she threw it. She gave a small scream as it flew towards Kakashi; he quickly caught it without a flinch. Her eyes widened in alarm, "I'm so sorry!" she turned to Sasuke, "See I can't!"

Sasuke kept his face calm as he looked in her eyes, "Try again, focus"

She looked as his next kunai with worried eyes; she hesitantly took it. Sasuke watched her closely, "Breathe. Feel everything around you and focus."

The pinkette gave him a nervous glance and looked back at the kunai. She closed her eyes trying to calm herself down and felt the wind around her and warm ground under her feet. She raised the kunai and opened her eyes; her eyes locked onto the tree and she threw it. Everyone's eyes widened as the kunai stabbed directly into the tree with perfect aim. They remained in silence as the pinkette blinked in surprise and opened her mouth. "I…I did it…I did it!"

She looked at Sasuke with immense excitement over her face, "It worked! You were right, I can do it!"

Sasuke was consumed with the smile on her face and another sign she was Sakura. Naruto gripped his hands knowing it was meant to be a test to see if she was Sakura; nobody could learn to throw kunai that fast, not even Kakashi did. Sai glanced at the kunai and narrowed his eyes as he saw a small glow of blue fade off the kunai. _Is that chakra? _Kakashi watched as the pinkette jumped in excitement and hugged Naomi while his team bit their tongues about saying she was Sakura. Kakashi cleared his throat and looked at Sasuke, "Why don't you start the fire."

Sasuke held his glance with him knowing Kakashi was telling him to let the kunai thing go. He clenched his jaw but did so leaning over and doing jutsu to light up the firewood. They all gathered around as the fish cooked and the pinkette proudly ate the one she caught. Lunch was mildly tense with Team 7 consumed with thoughts of Yuki being Sakura but the girls didn't seem to notice. They finished eating after twenty minutes and cleaned up their site so the enemy couldn't follow their trail. The pinkette gave a longing glance at the beautiful scenery before she climbed onto Kakashi's back and Naomi climbed on Sai's. The moment she got her grip on him they were up and traveling in the trees again. The pinkette was really beginning to love the view of traveling through the trees; she wished she could do it on her own. She gave a small look at Kakashi and leaned her head past his shoulder a little, "How did you learn to run through the trees?"

Memories flooded Kakashi's mind of when he taught his team to walk on trees with their chakra, "We train hard enough that we can jump farther than regular people and the better shinobi you become the better awareness you have of everything around you. And if you're nervous about slipping off tree limbs you can always put chakra under feet to help you stick."

The pinkette gave a puzzled look, "Chakra…that's what fuels your techniques right?"

Kakashi gave a small nod remembering how Sakura had to teach Naruto what chakra was when they were genin, "It's the life energy manifested into it's own circulatory system that flows through our body. We pull chakra from the system to create jutsu; there's also a certain type of element chakra running in that determines what kind of jutsu you should learn."

Her jade eyes swirled with interest, "What are you?"

Kakashi gave a small smile, "I've trained long enough I can do lightning, earth, and water."

The pinkette looked over to the others, "What about you guys?"

Naruto gave a big grin, "Wind! The rarest of them all!"

Sai kept a plain face as he carried Naomi, "Water but I don't use it."

Sasuke let some lightning spark from his hand, "Fire and lightning"

Yuki looked down at Kakashi, "How do I tell what mine is?"

Kakashi gave a small smile, "You release some chakra into a special paper that reacts to your nature type."

The pinkette gave a small frown, "Oh…so I can't do it."

Kakashi dug into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her with some hope in mind, "You can try."

The pinkette eagerly grabbed and focused on the paper, nothing happened. They traveled through the trees for a few more minutes as she continued to try and release chakra. She made a small groan in defeat, "I can't…"

Naruto tossed a big grin, "Don't give up! It's really hard to learn how to focus chakra; it took me and Sasuke hours!"

The pinkette gave a small smile of encouragement and continued to focus. Team 7 was waiting for her to do it quickly; it took Sakura only moments to learn to focus her chakra as a genin but Yuki was struggling. Twenty more minutes passed by as they continued to travel and the pinkette continued to focus. Sasuke kept his eyes on her the whole time with his Sharingan trying to sense her chakra flow, nothing. He frowned, she handled weapons so easily only an hour ago but she was struggling with chakra. Sakura was the complete opposite easily using chakra and struggling with weapons. Sasuke and Naruto knew from Sakura's final battle with Orochimaru that she had earth chakra but had no idea how she learned it. Everyone's eyes widened as they felt a small hint of chakra swirl through the pinkette but it quickly died and the paper didn't change. Another hour passed as they continued to wait for a result from her chakra paper. Sasuke gave a small sigh; he didn't understand why it was taking so long. The pinkette gave a small frown and looked at Sasuke, "You have two and you're only my age, how do you do it?"

Sasuke traveled closer beside her and let chakra dance on the tips of his fingers, "You have to relax, feel nothing else but the flow inside you, listen to your heart beat, your chakra pumps the same way, and visualize yourself sending your body's essence to the paper."

The pinkette closed her eyes and did as he said. She felt nothing but the flow inside her and listened to her heartbeat; she visualized her heartbeat pumping blue chakra that Sasuke showed on his fingers and felt the warmth of its glow inside her. She spent a few minutes trying to visualize how it traveled up her arm, then through her hand, and then through her fingers. She took a deep breath and tried to visualize the chakra spilling out of her fingers as she clenched the paper in her hands. Her eyes flashed open as she felt the texture change in her hands and opened her hand where she was clenching the paper. Her eyes brightened as she saw a small pile dirt in her hand, "I did it!"

A high-pressure spray of water quickly shot in their direction causing everyone to jump away before the water snapped the tree limbs off. Kakashi and Sasuke protectively stood around Yuki as Naruto and Sai did the same for Naomi. Ten shinobi came rocketing into the trees with weapons in hand. Naruto cursed and quickly summoned six clones to make it even. Sai quickly painted several ink tigers that flew off his scroll attacking two men before one got to him and Sai protected himself with his sword. Naruto growled as he dodged a few attacks from one and the other six headed towards the pinkette. Naruto's clones quickly jumped in the way knocking two to the side and two of his clones were hit into a puff of smoke. Sasuke and Kakashi prepared to attack as four enemies came flying at them.

Sasuke quickly pulled out his katana and let lightning dance across it as his Sharingan swirled. One man was caught in his paralyzing genjutsu and fell limp towards the ground. Kakashi summoned a clone as well and both jumped towards two rogue. Sasuke went into sword and kunai combat with the remaining enemy trying to protect the pinkette behind him. Naruto's two remaining clone spilt up to help Kakashi and Sasuke but these rogue were better than the previous. Sasuke's enemy did a quick twist still reflecting Sasuke's sword and throwing several shuriken at the clone causing it to puff into smoke. Kakashi and Naruto's clone fought off two shinobi with taijutsu as Kakashi's clone stood in the background letting his Raikiri swell into his hand. Sai's ink tigers continued to tangle with two men as he did with one enemy in close combat. One the tigers managed to bite and stun an enemy with paralyzing ink before the other tore them apart with his kunai. The real Naruto kept in close hand combat with one man as they jumped from tree to tree; he tossed a kick at his jaw but the man caught it. The enemy tried to pull his leg in for a blow but Naruto twisted and used the tree limb under him to pull on and release himself. He stayed on his hands and spun himself around nailing his heel into the man's jaw. He flew to the side but flipped mid air, jumped off a tree limb, and rocketed back towards Naruto.

Kakashi's clone finally readied his Raikiri and started running towards the enemy. The real Kakashi grabbed the man's wrist trying to twist him around but the beefy man flipped him into the air. Kakashi quickly grabbed his hair as leverage and pulled his body into the enemy and kneed him into the back of the neck. Naruto's clone fought with the other man aiming punches at each other and used an opening to slip behind him. Naruto's clone quickly got the enemy into a headlock as Kakashi's clone came running in and slammed his Raikiri through the man's chest. Naruto's clone was hit as well and turned to a puff a smoke but the attacked enemy quickly went limp and slipped off Kakashi's clone's bloody arm. The pinkette cowered back in fear as the battle went out before her. Two were down, and one dead. She flinched at the sharp sound of metal clashing from Sasuke and his enemy in front of her. She took a small step back on the tree limb she was on and looked down. She cringed; she was thirty feet above the ground. She stepped back until her back hit the tree trunk and Sasuke began to let lightning spread across him.

The large man Kakashi knocked down quickly stood and glared at Kakashi, his clone, and Naruto's clone. He slammed his fists into the ground causing the earth to crumble ten meters around him and the forest to shake. Kakashi's clone lost his footing giving the enemy an opening and was quickly punched into a puff of smoke. The pinkette pressed all her body weight against the tree in fear as the tree shook. Naruto did a quick flip away from his enemy to avoid a kick and accidently gave him an opening. Naruto's enemy quickly did a few hand signals and blew a sticking substance out over Naruto. Naruto coughed as it spat over him as he slammed into a tree and was then stuck to it. Naruto's enemy quickly turned around and headed towards Sasuke and Yuki. Sai cursed as he remained in combat with two enemy and didn't have the chance to paint on his ink scroll while Naomi hid behind a tree. Sasuke covered himself in lightning and let it spark onto the man he was in combat with till he went unconscious and fell towards the ground. Sasuke gripped his katana as Naruto's enemy flew towards him but didn't get the chance to see him do hand signs. The enemy quickly sprayed water onto to him while lightning still danced across Sasuke's skin. Sasuke gave a loud groan in pain as his attack shocked himself and made his body feel like it was burning. The pinkette gave a small scream in concern for him as the enemy landed onto the tree limb they were on and swung a kick towards Sasuke's face.

Sasuke panted in pain but caught the kick and swung the enemy towards the ground. Kakashi and Naruto's clone each held back an arm of the large man as the enemy fought their grip. The clone's eyes diverted to another man Sasuke swung down who flipped and landed on his feet. The man quickly ran back up the tree with chakra on his feet and ran around it in a circle trying to get to the pinkette leaning against the tree trunk. The pinkette's eyes widened in alarm as she saw the man running up the tree towards her at a fast speed; she stumbled away from the tree trunk in terror and lost her footing. Sasuke quickly stretched out his arm and grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his chest; he quickly jumped off the tree limb as his enemy jumped towards them and shot another high-pressure water attack. Sasuke did a back flip with her in his arms and got notice of a black strap hanging around her neck before he landed on the ground. Sasuke turned his attention back to his enemy as the man dove off the tree trunk and sped through the air towards him. Sasuke quickly did a few hand signals and let his fire jutsu flare through the sky and burn the enemy crisp. He quickly glanced around at Sai struggling with two more and Kakashi and Naruto's clone struggling with one while the real Naruto was still stuck to a tree; he looked at the pinkette, "Hide behind a tree!"

The pinkette quickly did so as Sasuke headed to help Sai. Sasuke did hand signs as he ran and let Chidori begin to spark off his hand as he got a few feet from the enemy and Sai. One of Sai's two enemies turned to engage him but Sasuke was too fast as he drove his Chidori through him and then swung the now dead body into Sai's other enemy knocking him over. That gave Sai enough time to get out his ink scroll and paint ink snakes as Sasuke headed over to Naruto. Sai's snakes wrapped across the man, crushing him in a tight coil. Sasuke used chakra on his feet to climb up a tree and gripped his hands around one of Naruto's arms. Sasuke tugged as hard as he could and finally tore Naruto off the tree and they fell back into the air, flipped, and landed on the ground. The pinkette poked her head out watching as Kakashi and Naruto's clone engaged with the last enemy; she took a few steps out and started jogging towards Sasuke and Naruto. She didn't catch one of the men Naruto's clones knocked at the beginning of battle stand up a few meters behind her.

Everyone's eyes widened as the rogue ninja charged up behind her with a kunai in his hand. Sai, Sasuke, and Naruto all started running towards; Sasuke screamed, "Run!"

The pinkette glanced back to see the man and her eyes widened in panic. Kakashi and Naruto's clone quickly landed a barrage of attacks knocking out their opponent and started running to save her as well. The pinkette's eyes watered as she raced away and she reached out to Sasuke. The remaining enemy swung his kunai at her the same time Sasuke grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. The pinkette gave out a small scream as the rogue sliced her side while Sasuke pulled her into him. Naruto gave an angry yell, gripped the man's shirt, and rocketed his knee into his chest, breaking all his ribs and killing him instantly.

Team 7 panted as Naomi ran out to see the pinkette's condition. Everyone turned to look at the pinkette curled up against Sasuke's chest; she was wincing and pressing a hand against her bleeding side. Naomi quickly kneeled down to her, "We need to treat her!"

Sasuke quickly picked her up in his arms mindful of her injury and looked around, "We need to find her something like a table to lay down on."

Naruto had already had the idea and had gone into sage mode; he quickly went up to a decent size tree and knocked it down. Sasuke quickly went over and laid her on the table level tree truck. Naomi quickly went to her side and tore the slice of her dress open further so she could examine the wound, "Give me a cloth or something."

Naruto quickly pulled out his spare shirt and handed it to her. Naomi pressed it on the pinkette's wound causing her to cringe and give a sound of discomfort; Sasuke hovered over her in worry. Naomi looked at the wound and then put pressure on it with the shirt again, "She'll be okay. It's not deep she just needs to be careful not to tear it after I bandage it."

Immense relief washed through Team 7. When they saw blood starting bleed through her white dress they became terrified. Naomi gave a pleading look at them, "Do you mind setting up the tent again? I'll need to take her dress off to do bandages and put her in new clothes."

Kakashi already pulled the bag of supplies off his back, "Sai help me."

Naruto hopped over the tree trunk and kneeled on the other side of the pinkette; he held her hand between both of his, "You're going to be okay."

She turned her head and gave him a small smile trying to ignore the pain. She gave a small nod as cold sweat formed on the back of her neck; she turned her head to Sasuke, "Thanks…for pulling me away."

Sasuke gave a deep frown, "Don't. I didn't keep you from getting hurt."

The pinkette tried to widen her smile, "But it would've been fatal if you didn't…you still saved me."

Sasuke stood quiet and stared at her beautiful smile. He clenched his hands and turned around to walk away. The pinkette frowned as he walked off through the trees. She didn't understand that watching her get wounded brought back all the horror Sasuke felt on the day Sakura died. He was petrified he was going to lose her again and it was all his fault for not protecting her again. He didn't think he could go on after gaining so much hope and losing her again if she was Sakura. He knew she was Sakura…and he wasn't going to lose her again. Naruto gave a small smile and gripped the pinkette's hand tighter, "He doesn't want you to know he feels guilty."

The pinkette gave him a confused glance through her pain, "But he saved me."

Naruto's eyes softened, "But you got hurt…we were terrified for a moment you weren't going to be okay…we can't stand not protecting you."

Her jade eyes swirled with thousands of emotions but they softened, momentarily taking her focus away from the pain. She gave a smile, "You're wonderful protectors, you're my heroes."

**_a half hour later_**

The four males waited outside the tent as Naomi finished wrapping her wound and changing her clothes. There eyes all raised as Naomi exited from the tent and stood tall, "The only extra dress we have is the one she's suppose to meet Katsurou-sama in so we'll have to be careful not to ruin it."

The pinkette slowly walked out in a thin-strapped jade dress that clung at her waist and the fabric loosely flowed down to her knees. The dress hugged her perfectly and exposed her neck unlike the previous but Sasuke couldn't care less. The only thing Sasuke could think about was the necklace hanging around her neck. The black strap he saw around her neck during battle was a necklace that held an oval shaped jade necklace…just like the one Sakura wore the day she died. Sasuke quickly walked up to her and pointed at it, "Where'd you get that?"

Naruto and Kakashi became tense recognizing the necklace as well. The pinkette's face furrowed at his serious expression, "I've always had it…"

Sasuke's eyes swirled with intense hope, "You had it when you appeared on that island, didn't you!?"

The pinkette fought the urge to step back and lowered her voice, "Yes"

Sasuke's intense expression scared her, "Then you're Sakura! Sakura wore the same necklace when she disappeared!"

He grabbed her arms, "You appeared on that island the same day she disappeared! You're Sakura and this proves it so drop the stupid mission come home!"

The pinkette's eyes narrowed, "It's not a stupid mission! I'm saving my people and the necklace doesn't mean anything!"

Sasuke's grip on her arms tightened, "Don't be stupid! Deep down you know you're her and you belong with us! You're not supposed to be this helpless village girl!"

Anger grew on her face and she shoved his arms away, "Don't touch me! I'm not stupid and there's nothing wrong with who I am! God, this is why you've all been so nice to me! You keep thinking you can get memories out of me that aren't there! I am not Sakura! Sakura's dead okay! She's dead and I'm not her and I never will be! I'm helping my people and no stupid necklace is going to change that! She's dead and you all need to get over it!"

Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi stood frozen at her piercing words. The pinkette's breath was heavy after yelling so much; she quickly dropped the anger from her face seeing their hurt but didn't let go of her resolve. She turned around and walked past Naomi, "Come on, we need to be at the palace in the morning."

Naomi cast her gaze back and forth between the pinkette and the heartbroken shinobi. She gave them an apologetic look and followed after the pinkette. Sasuke stood with a defeated look on his face. Even though he knew she was Sakura, she didn't want to be. No matter how obvious it showed who she really was she didn't want to remember. He had Sakura right in front of him and he was going to lose her again because she didn't want to remember. They were all going to lose her again because she didn't want to be who she was. They were going to give her away to some dictator and let her health give out from him because she refused to be Sakura. They lost her…they really lost her this time.

**_author's notes_**

So yes a little depressing end to the chapter but I had been planning that argument in my head for a while. The next chapter will be when they get to the palace all your answers should be answered. Haven't decided if it will be the last chapter or not, already have another fanfic in the works if it is though. Please review! They really mean a lot and encourage me; I also reply!


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